Today's reading: Jeremiah 1; Matthew 6
I can't help but think how great of a testimony Christians' lives would be to the watching world if we really lived out Jesus' words in the second half of Matthew 6.
The quotes are a bit long, but I'm just going to include them both here because they are worth reading over and over and over again. In the second half of Matthew 6, Jesus says,
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
and
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
In a world that just seems to be constantly running faster and faster, where nobody has enough (money, time, stuff, energy, sleep, etc.) and we are all living anxious, harried, and distracted lives, how incredibly much space is there for Christians to live differently?
If we truly lay up our treasures in heaven, rather than on earth, how free would we be from the constant race for more, better, and newer? How much less would we have to work and strive and fret if we were content with what we had, not needing the latest phone model, the newest car, the biggest tv, the most powerful computer, all the streaming services, the latest fashions, the coolest shoes, etc.? And even more so then if we really trusted that God knows what we need and is more than capable of supplying those needs when we are putting Him, His kingdom, and His righteousness first in our lives...
Imagine what a contrast it would be today if Christians were known for being at peace, contented, undistracted, and not anxious about so many things. Not that we would never not be those things, but that as a rule, our treasures were more in heaven than on earth, and our trust was more in our heavenly Father than in our own abilities to make life work well day in and day out, freeing us up in a way the modern world simply does not know.
That is the kind of life that would make the people rushing by on their way to the next thing stop and ask how you could possibly not be so caught up in the same race. It's the kind of life that the modern world is yearning for, but increasingly sees as a relic of a lost age, and utterly impossible today. It's the kind of life that requires real, daily steps of faith trusting that God will be good for His word, but if we are willing to take Jesus seriously here, it's the kind of life that has the potential to speak louder than any argument or biblical defense ever could.
I think it's worth asking the Lord how our lives would look different if we took this just a little bit more seriously today than we did yesterday, because this could be one of the greatest testimonies for Jesus the church could offer the world today.
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