This morning I made some rather tasty orange cranberry muffins. They were made from scratch. I tore open the mix bag and scratched out canned cranberries that came with the mix. Hey, I turned on the oven...don't judge me. My girls were sitting at the counter indulging in my culinary greatness. Katie (who really loves my cooking) finished her mini muffins and asked if she could have some more. Trying to be a sugar conscious mother, I said, "Yes, Katie you may have one more." Katie gets up, walks across the kitchen, and comes back with four muffins. I told her that she really only needed one more and asked that she put the rest back with the other muffins. She lays them beside her plate (that is not where the other muffins were I might add). She said, "I will just put them right here." Savannah has been taking this all in and turns to Katie. Savannah says, "I know what you are going to do..." She then takes her first two fingers and points to her eyes and then to Katie and says "and I've got my EYES ON YOU!" Brad and I just looked at each other.
I am thankful for those muffins this morning. They are a sweet reminder of God's provision in my life. I want to go back to Matthew again today as this passage has been playing over and over in my mind.
I want to "RUN A RABBIT" as my daddy sometimes does in his sermons. This is when you want to say something that is totally off the intended subject but is meaningful and in some cases entertaining. When you read God's word, it does have a tendency to play over in your mind. The more you read, the bigger the screen gets. Pretty soon you are projecting God's word like a movie reel in your head. You think on it and God starts to show you things that you never saw before. It will speak to you even when you are not in a state of prayer. For instance, I was facing a really hard situation one day last week. I was driving down the road alone, talking to myself. I said , "I CANNOT DO THIS AGAIN!" The word of God spoke so clearly it was almost audible, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13)." Almost in an argument now I said, "But it hurts and is so hard." The answer rang out, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17)." It makes me want to read more. Load up my spiritual TiVo with God's word so that when I speak to God or man (or myself) God's word will answer back. OK, caught the rabbit.
Back to Matthew 6:24-33. Life is uncertain. Who can we trust when jobs are on the line, bills need to be paid, sickness threatens, fears arise...
Jesus asks you to make a choice. Who will you trust in? Jesus states that the thing that you put your trust in becomes the master of your life. Jesus challenges us to put our ultimate faith in him. He states that a person cannot serve the Him and money. He says that you will love one of the masters and hate the other.
Jesus says that we should "take not thought for our life." I don't know about you, but I need a master plan. I need something for sure and certain. I don't like giving away control, but that is exactly what Jesus is asking us to do. There is a master plan, but we do not have it. We will never have it. We like to think that we do. Now don't get me wrong here. I am not saying you should drop out of college and wait for God to cast down a road map of your life that you are to follow. What I am saying is that "All things work together for good of them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)" If our driving force is buying the next greatest thing, filling our bank account with enough money to retire at age 45, or getting a promotion that will secure our future, we have missed the mark. None of these things are wrong or sinful until they take over our thoughts and our desires and the place that Christ should hold in our life.
Jesus says that we should not worry about our what we are going to eat or what we are going to wear. Our life is about more than food and our body is more clothes. It is the spirit that counts. Then in His beautiful way, Christ gives us an example so that we may understand what all of this means. Sparrows, one of the smallest birds. They don't plant a garden, they don't store up a harvest but God feeds them. Jesus says that I am more important to Him than a sparrow. Sparrows are taken care of, simple as that. Our clothes...God clothes the lilies of the field. They don't have to spin the thread. They are dressed by the master. If God makes a lily so beautiful when it is here today and gone tomorrow, imagine how we, "the apple of his eye (Deuteronomy 32:10)" are so much more adorned.
So you may say to me, "I know all of that and I still have to go to a food closet and shop at the thrift store." (Let me just stop and praise God for the food closets and the thrift stores.) What Christ wants you to take from this is not how indulgent your food is or the brand of clothes that you wear. When God looks at you he looks at the inner man. God doesn't read fashion labels. He reads the words of God that are hidden in our heart and that blood of Christ that makes us clean. God wants us to seek after him FIRST. We must chose. If we serve God first, make our ultimate goal to live a righteous life before God, Jesus promised that all of the other things in our life will fall into place as they are ordered by the hand of God himself. Hey, he feeds the birds and decorates the lilies, and I know that he will take care of me. I may not have all of the answers for tomorrow, but God says to simply follow Him today.
God fed me muffins today. For that I am grateful.
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