Do Not Worry
This devotional considers Luke 12:22-34.
As human beings, we like to be in control of our lives, dreams, goals, outcomes. But there are so many things we are not able to do, so much we’re not able to make happen. Jesus said, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest. This very little thing of being Master of time, this very little thing of deciding when we die. These are in the Lord’s domain. The only real control we have comes from our choices—decision making.
Jesus ended his teaching on not worrying by exhorting the people to trust in what the Father has been pleased to give: the kingdom. He wants us to decide to change the pursuits of our hearts with the knowledge and understanding that the kingdom of God is the eternal legacy we’re after. That extra hour is in the next generation.
We want to be remembered, to pass on with our name the things we have done and acquired on earth. The Lord teaches, however, that any pursuit of earthly things will receive earthly rewards. It will not last. And worse, the return is in full. It ends here.
The kingdom of God is like the pearl of great value or a found treasure in a field that’s worth selling everything we have to our names to acquire. Jesus wants us to pursue the kingdom of God in this way. Thieves can’t steal and moths can’t destroy the kingdom of God because it is untouched by the cycle of decay and death of earth.
Today, let us release ourselves from the hunt—the hunt for what our Father gives without discrimination, that is food and clothing, daily provision. Let’s give up the hunt—the hunt for the applause of people. Instead, let us pursue living in and sharing the treasures of God’s kingdom in the world. Let us be light and salt. And God will give us what we desire, not as part of a bargain in which he gets what he wants and we get what we want, but because the Kingdom of God comes with all that we need. So, don’t worry. Let’s rest and live in confidence in what we have already been so generously given by our Lord.
Amen.