Recently, I’ve been reading through Luke 12 where Jesus speaks to his disciples about not worrying. Its parallel passage can be found in Matthew 6 where Jesus says to seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you. It’s incredible the lengths that Jesus goes to encourage his disciples to not worry. He gives seven reasons. They are
1. Your life is not defined by food or clothing vv22-23
2. You are more valuable than the crows v24
3. Worrying does nothing to extend your life vv25-26
4. You are much more valuable than the wild flowers vv27-28
5. You are different from the rest of the world vv29-30a
6. God promises you himself and the kingdom of God! vv30b
David Powlison suggests that the sixth reason is the greatest of them all. Why? Because he says that, “Some of what Jesus has been saying you might half get by reading the paper, looking at crows, looking at flowers, or thinking a minute about how useless it is to worry. Common sense, open-you-eyes: it is God’s world, so life works the way He says it does. But you’d never see how God connects to the crows or the flowers unless He tells you.” So true. The sixth is the ultimate because we are reminded that ‘God is our Father.’ He is your father.
Last week, as you are aware, Rachel and I went to Japan. When we first landed, it was rather stressful. Finding the right train which would take us to our hotel. Working out which SIM card to purchase for the trip. Managing our face masks (Rachel is super careful). But throughout the trip, it occurred to us that God is our Father, he’s going to look after us. Yes, we needed to be responsible. But it gave us a sense of peace to know that he loves us completely. He loves you. What change that will bring to our lives when we understand this truth.
Let’s be reminded of that. Oh, and what about the seventh reason? He’s given you the kingdom! (V32). What’s interesting about this reason is that it’s also a command. In the next verse, Jesus then says to be generous. He’s saying, Because you have the kingdom, go and be generous. Seek the good of your neighbour. You have nothing to fear. Let’s do that… with God as our father!