Demands of Jesus - Do Not be Anxious About the Necessities of Daily Life - 5

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! Wishing you all a very Happy Easter. Before the Great Lent we were learning about some of the demands of Jesus and in particular His demand to not be anxious about our daily lives. In Part 4, we were learning about the reasons why Jesus said such a demand. We learned that by being anxious we do not add anything to our lives and also that our Father in Heaven loves us so  much that He would take care of our needs. Now moving forward, lets see some more reasons why Jesus says not to be anxious about our daily necessities...

YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS THAT YOU NEED THEM ALL

The fifth and sixth reasons why a follower of Jesus shouldn't be anxious are given in Matthew 6:32. We shouldn't be anxious about what we eat or drink or wear because "[fifth reason] the Gentiles seek after all these things; and [sixth reason] your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all." Anxiety about the things of this world puts us on the same level with the world of unbelievers. It shows that we are really very much like the world in what makes us happy. And Jesus assumes that we will not want to be like that. It also shows that we don't think our Father in Heaven knows our needs. Or perhaps we don't think He has the heart of a loving Father. Anxiety shows that we are too close to the world and too far from God. So don't be anxious-the world has nothing eternal to offer, and your loving heavenly Father knows your needs now and forever.

ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED TO YOU

The seventh reason not to be anxious is that when you seek the kingdom of God first, He works for you and provides all your needs. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). "All these things" does not mean everything we think we need, but everything we really need. And real needs are determined by what God calls us to do, not what we feel like doing. God will give us "all these things" that we need to fulfill His calling on our lives.

TOMORROW WILL BE ANXIOUS FOR ITSELF

The last argument is, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day" (Matt. 6:34). In other words, God has appointed to each day its portion of pleasure and pain, as the old Swedish hymn says, especially the last  two lines of this verse:

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

Strength  find, to meet my trial here;

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best-

Lovingly, its part pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

So don't misappropriate God's allotted troubles for tomorrow. That is, don't bring them forward into today in the form of anxiety. Believe that God will be God tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be grace for tomorrow's troubles. That grace is not given today.

The main point of all this is clear and unmistakable: Jesus does not want His followers to be anxious. He does not secure His kingdom by keeping His subjects in a state of worry. On the contrary, according to Matthew 6:33, the more primary and central His kingship becomes in our lives, the less anxiety we will have.

Source: What does Jesus Demand from the World - John Piper

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, with this I now finish Jesus' demand for not to be anxious about our daily necessities. Let us all be more trusting in His abundant grace to carry us through our daily troubles.

Please do keep this sinful brother in your prayers.

Jobin George

"The Lord bless you and keep you; 

The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 

The Lord lift His countenance upon you, And give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26