One such instruction is The Cure For Anxiety, teaching us NOT to worry, to fret, and be anxious, for all negatives open into even more, and distract us from RELYING ON HIM, and our walk on THE PATH. Much of our time is spent counter-productively, in which lies many snares, traps, and devices of the enemy! Brilliant as HE IS, we have been offered ways past ALL which is of the world, IF ONLY we so choose to BE IN, and REMAIN IN THE LORD! HE KNOWS it is NOT easy for us, and so, HE HAS put in place, that which we should study, examine, embrace, and take to heart, THAT it more enables us along THE WAY! PRAISE HIM ALWAYS!!!
Our Lord lays down several reasons why men should not disquiet themselves about the wants of life, or concerning the future; 8 instances, 8 solutions, all tied into TRUST THE LORD YOUR *GOD* with all your heart!!!
25+++“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26+++“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27+++“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28+++“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29+++yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
30+++“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31+++“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
32+++“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33+++“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34+++“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your life. Not about the length of it; but refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; our times are in his hand, and they are in a good hand. Not about the comforts of this life; but leave it to God to make it bitter or sweet as he pleases. Food and raiment God has promised, therefore we may expect them. Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not anxious for the future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for to-morrow, or the events of it.
God has given us life, and has given us the body. And what can he not do for us, who did that? If we take care about our souls and for eternity, which are more than the body and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. Improve this as an encouragement to trust in God. We must reconcile ourselves to our worldly estate, as we do to our stature. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, therefore we must submit and resign ourselves to them.
Thoughtfulness for our souls is the best cure of thoughtfulness for the world. Seek first the kingdom of God, and make religion your business: say not that this is the way to starve; no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world.
Carking care is not only useless in itself, but renders us miserable beforehand. The future falls under the cognizance of God alone: we encroach, therefore, upon his rights, when we would fain foresee all that may happen to us, and secure ourselves from it by our cares.
How much good is omitted, how many evils caused, how many duties neglected, how many innocent persons deserted, how many good works destroyed, how many truths suppressed, and how many acts of injustice authorized by those timorous forecasts of what may happen; and those faithless apprehensions concerning the future!
Let us do now what God requires of us, and trust the consequences to him. The future time which God would have us foresee and provide for is that of judgment and eternity: and it is about this alone that we are careless!
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" - arketon th hmera h kakia authv, Sufficient for each day is its own calamity. Each day has its peculiar trials: we should meet them with confidence in God. As we should live but a day at a time, so we should take care to suffer no more evils in one day than are necessarily attached to it. He who neglects the present for the future is acting opposite to the order of God, his own interest, and to every dictate of sound wisdom. Let us live for eternity, and we shall secure all that is valuable in time.
No comments:
Post a Comment