There are times when we need to remember how worry works. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells those who are listening three times to not worry: : “Do not worry. Do not worry. Do not worry!” Now, if Jesus says something once, okay. Twice, sit up! But three times, put it on your forehead! This is important.
And so, to understand the importance of what Jesus is saying, we have to remember what he said back in verse 24, because in that verse Jesus proclaimed that we cannot serve two masters: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (6:24). In other words, Jesus is reiterating the first commandment in Exodus: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Now let’s go to verse 33: “Seek God’s kingdom first and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
What is to come first? You as god or God as God? Your kingdom or God’s kingdom? Because you cannot have two masters.
This is where worry comes in! What worry does is divide us between God and everything else that stands in place of God. Worry, if allowed, divides and conquers the soul. After all, that’s what the word “worry” literally means – to split or divide. It actually comes from an ancient English word which means to strangle or tear apart. Worry divides us against ourselves (and God) and fragments our emotions, leaving us drained, if not defeated.
And what Jesus is teaching us is that, if we allow it, worry will track us down and strangle us; if we allow it, worry will be our master. And when that happens we cut ourselves off from God, from the Source of our well-being. Remember, no one can serve two masters. God did not create us to have two masters, but one! God created us to worship only one God (Exodus 20:3).
God created us in God’s own image! God values you! God made you, and God did not make you to have worry, to be split apart!
How may we seek God's kingdom first and, in doing so, put worry in its proper place? What do we need to do to seek God's kingdom first?
Pastor Andy Kinsey
And so, to understand the importance of what Jesus is saying, we have to remember what he said back in verse 24, because in that verse Jesus proclaimed that we cannot serve two masters: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (6:24). In other words, Jesus is reiterating the first commandment in Exodus: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Now let’s go to verse 33: “Seek God’s kingdom first and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
What is to come first? You as god or God as God? Your kingdom or God’s kingdom? Because you cannot have two masters.
This is where worry comes in! What worry does is divide us between God and everything else that stands in place of God. Worry, if allowed, divides and conquers the soul. After all, that’s what the word “worry” literally means – to split or divide. It actually comes from an ancient English word which means to strangle or tear apart. Worry divides us against ourselves (and God) and fragments our emotions, leaving us drained, if not defeated.
And what Jesus is teaching us is that, if we allow it, worry will track us down and strangle us; if we allow it, worry will be our master. And when that happens we cut ourselves off from God, from the Source of our well-being. Remember, no one can serve two masters. God did not create us to have two masters, but one! God created us to worship only one God (Exodus 20:3).
God created us in God’s own image! God values you! God made you, and God did not make you to have worry, to be split apart!
How may we seek God's kingdom first and, in doing so, put worry in its proper place? What do we need to do to seek God's kingdom first?
Pastor Andy Kinsey
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