How many of you enjoy wasting time? I don't mean doing things that are just not constructive like watching TV or reading a comic book. I mean how many of you like to just sit and do absolutely nothing, especially when there are things that need to be done? Very few people would say they enjoy doing nothing and just wasting time. And yet we do it all the time.
You may have seen the surveys that show how much time we waste doing everyday things. We spend like 2 years of our lives just looking for our keys. We spend 6 years waiting in lines and I'm pretty sure it's about a thousand years we spend on hold on the phone trying to talk to the utility companies. Oh, that's the worst, with that annoying music they have while you wait. It's awful. It's torture. And don't get me started about waiting in the doctor's office.
Years ago I walked into an antique shop in south Texas. Nobody was around so I looked for a while and made my way toward the back where I could hear some noise. I saw a man in the warehouse in back sitting next to an old chest of drawers or dresser of some kind and he was scraping the paint off of it with a small chisel or something. I watched him for a minute and he worked so incredibly slow. He was very meticulous but he had a lot of work to be done and he was obviously in no hurry.
I politely coughed so he would see me and know somebody was actually in his store. He looked up and saw me and made his way up and over to me and introduced himself as the owner. He then said, and I promise this is true, as he stuck out his hand he said his name was Bob, or whatever, but his friends called him "Flash". I assumed it was sort of like calling a bald guy "Curly" or a big guy "Tiny" because Flash moved so slowly.
I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was stripping the paint off that dresser. Well, sitting right next to where he had been sitting was a can of paint stripper. When I asked him why he didn't use the paint stripper, he asked me, "Well, then what would I do?" And I realized that Flash had nothing else to do. He had no customers and nothing to do so why not make this project last so at least he was doing something?
It's hard for most of us to relate to that kind of life. We are all so busy and, yet, we too waste time every day in some ways. I thought it would be appropriate as we approach the new year to think of a couple of ways that we could really waste some time. I don't mean to waste a little time here and there but some ways that we can really just totally kill some large blocks of precious time that we will never get back.
And today I want to see how much time we can lose, waste, or kill when we worry. The Bible speaks several times about the subject of worry. And we know that we are not to worry but sometimes it seems so difficult not to. But I think sometimes we don't realize why God doesn't want us to worry. We know that He loves us and cares for us and doesn't want us to worry because it's not best for us.
And that's true. Matthew 11 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." He loves us and wants us to not be burdened by worry. And we think that is the only reason why God doesn't want us to worry. We think it's sort of like our friend telling us that we really should get some exercise. And we know we should and so we do a little bit, but you know...
This isn't a friend recommending that we get a little more exercise. This is a doctor saying that if you don't get more exercise then you are not going to live much longer. Every time the Bible says not to worry, it's a command. It is just as much a command as "Do not steal" or "Do not kill." Worry is a sin and we will see why in Matthew 6:25-34. You should have a Bible right there in front of you. Turn to the first book in the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 25-34.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Some of you probably remember the angst of being a teenager. For some of you, that may just be too long ago and you don't remember but for those who do, you know the frustration of being told not to do something. To add to that frustration, you were not told why you shouldn't do that thing you wanted to do and no other options were given. "Don't do it." Period. That used to drive me crazy. If I can't do something, tell me why and then give me something else I can do.
Well, Jesus obviously understands that horrible angst. He understands how mistreated we all were as teens. ļ Because in this passage, He tells us not to worry and then He tells us why we shouldn't. He then goes on to tell us what we should do and why we should do that. And the thing He tells us not to do is worry, right there in verse 25. And you understand that when Jesus says not to do something, it's not a suggestion. It's not something we should really try to do, you know, when we can and when we really get spiritual.
But this is difficult for us especially in this instance because what is it specifically that Jesus is telling us not to worry about? He tells us not to worry about what we will eat and what we will wear. I happen to like this command because in studying this passage I looked up the word that is translated "food" and it specifically is talking about vegetables. Jesus is telling us not to worry about eating a lot of vegetables. And does it look like I'm really worried about what I wear?
Ok, the veggie part is not really true. I wish it were true. But it is difficult for us sometimes to follow this command. We live in a world that says we have to look out for #1 and if we don't then no one will. The thing is, the world doesn't know our God. The world doesn't know, and we too often forget, that the same God that loved us so much that He sent His only Son to be our sacrifice, also has proven His love to all of mankind since at least Genesis chapter 3 where He personally made clothes out of animal skin for Adam and Eve. Yes, bikers were not the first ones to wear leather. That's been around a while.
When there was absolutely nothing to eat out in the desert, God provided manna and quail and water from a rock. When Elijah needed food, God commanded the ravens to bring him bread and meat. At the end of a 40 day fast, God commanded angels to give Jesus what He needed. Jesus fed thousands of people from a few loaves and fishes. God has provided even here with a food pantry that has helped hundreds of times and yet some of us here today worry that we are not going to have what we need.
We see all that God has done in the past and we believe it or at least we say we believe it and yet something in the back of our minds says, "I'm going to be the first one. I'm going to be the first child of God to ever be forgotten by the all-knowing, all-powerful God who lied when He said He would provide for me." That's what you're saying when you worry about anything. It's actually a form of atheism. You say you believe in God with your words but your actions say differently. Your actions say God is not able or that he is not aware. And that is an insult to God.
God never promises wealth or health or that we will have more than we need. He doesn't even promise that we won't miss a meal or two. But He promises to give us everything we need and to worry about that stuff is a sin. And Jesus even tells us why it's a sin. We have seen what we are not supposed to do. Now let's see why we are not supposed to worry. Look at the end of verse 30.
"O you of little faith." When we worry we show our lack of faith. During an especially trying time in the work of the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor wrote to his wife, "We have twenty-five cents--and all the promises of God!" W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 242.
I don't understand preachers who stand up here and preach health and wealth. There is no biblical basis for that teaching. But I also don't understand the one who worries about God meeting their needs. The Bible and our own lives are full of examples of that. Hebrews 11:6says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God."
Jesus tells us here not to worry about our food and clothes because that shows a lack of faith in God and that displeases God. But He goes on to tell us what we are to do in verse 33. This is such a powerful verse. You need to memorize this verse and say it to yourself several times every day. Every time you feel yourself starting to worry about something that you can't control, say "I will seek His kingdom and His righteousness first."
But what does it really mean to seek first His Kingdom? Every decision you have to make -- every one -- ought to be prefaced by the question: what will the implications of my decision be? Will it draw people to the Kingdom or away from the Kingdom? Will what I do bring people to Jesus or away from Jesus? Will it make Him look good or bad?
Will this kind of toothpaste bring glory or would that kind? If it doesn't matter, then it doesn't matter but it ought to be so ingrained in you that the first thing you think when you do anything is what will this do for the Kingdom of God? Whatever I say, whatever I wear, my hobbies, how I drive, what I watch on TV, the friends I have, the car I drive -- what does it say about my relationship with God? Can I do this thing while at the same time lead someone through the Gospel? Seek first His Kingdom.
But also seek first His righteousness. Seek first what God says to do. Seek first what pleases God. Do what He says, not what you want Him to say or what you would say if you were God. And there is a real simple way of knowing what God wants. It's simple to know what God says is right and just. Just read it. Read the Word and pray over it.
And do you know what will happen when you do those things? When you stop worrying about whether or not God will provide; when you quit worrying about if you are going to have enough money to pay bills; when you stop worrying about stuff and start proving to God that you are not worried by giving away what you do have; when you do those things, verse 34 says that all that stuff will be added to you. When you worry, no guarantees. Stop worrying and watch how God provides.
I referenced Hebrews 11:6a few minutes ago but the end of that verse says, "He rewards those who seek him." Those rewards may or may not be financial or physical. The Bible doesn't promise that. But it also says in 1 Samuel 26:23 that "The LORD rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness." Psalm 18:24 says, "The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight." One more: Isaiah 62:11 says, "The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: "Say to Daughter Zion, 'See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.'"
When the first thing you do is seek Him and His Kingdom and His righteousness, you will be rewarded. And for young Christians that may be why you seek Him -- for the reward. But as your relationship with Jesus grows, you start to realize the reward that is getting to know Him better. When you start to see your life change and then others are affected by you and you see their lives change then you realize that God really can be trusted. And your worries, especially about temporal things like money and stuff just start to disappear.
And you won't waste any more time worrying. Oh, you'll still waste time at the doctors' office even though you made an appointment 3 weeks ago but you won't worry even about that. You may get angry but don't worry. That subject is next week.
Invitation
Great Is the Lord - 12
