Matt 6:25-34 Put God First ES 23 Feb 14 1889
Our lives are driven by needs – physical, material, emotional, or social.
• It ranges from the simple and tangible like food and clothing, to the intangible need for love and recognition.
• Some are crucial to our survival and well-being, others may be just good-to-have.
Sadly we cannot tell them apart, whether they are needs or wants.
• Yet we pour in our time and effort, and even our lives into pursuing them.
• We don’t always know what we need. And even when we do, we may not know if they are really important.
• Some toil hard to earn a living and lose their health in the process. Others neglect their family while striving to build successful careers.
With so many different needs demanding our attention, how are you going to make the right choices and live your life well?
The feeling is like packing for a trip. You wish to bring as many things as you need, but you know you cannot. You just have to decide what to bring and what to leave behind. You have a THINGS TO BRING list but you still got to tick them.
And so I believe we all had such experiences – we went on a trip only to realise we left something important behind. Like what happened at church retreats – one year we left a projector, another a keyboard (and make-do with iPads, courtesy of Apple!) At least, these aren’t life-threatening stuff like your daily medicine.
Or the other way around, you went on a trip and took something that you did not used at all. It wasn’t needed but you have to carry it throughout the trip. If it is bulky and heavy, that has become the burden for your trip.
We need wisdom to know what is important and necessary.
• If this life journey comes with a SUITCASE, what are you going to put inside?
• What are the things you will bring along on this trip that would ensure that you have a good and happy life?
• Will there be some things that you can leave out because they are trivial and can do without?
These can be tough questions. But we need to answer them.
• We do not want to end up regretting the things we have opted for and not paying more attention to the things that are important.
• I have chosen therefore to share with you what Jesus said in Matt 6:25-34.
• If we want to enjoy this trip called life and live it to its fullest, then we need to take note of some comments Jesus made here. [Read the passage]
Here is the one thing that we cannot neglect, Jesus says – God’s Kingdom and His righteousness.
• When we talk about a kingdom, we are referring to the RULE of the King. Therefore the Kingdom is all about the King and His concerns.
• We are called to make God’s work and God’s will our concern.
God’s concerns must be on our radar screen. His Kingdom must be our FOCUS.
It is amazing that Jesus links this to our material well-being – what we eat, drink and wear.
• He is being very wise. Firstly, He knows our problem. That’s what we are worried about – our rice bowls.
• It is a topic people talked about at every election. Bread and butter issues are our utmost concerns.
• If You are not going to resolve that, we can’t concentrate on the needs of Your Kingdom.
Secondly, and more importantly, I believe Jesus linked the two to remind us that God is our ultimate provider.
• It is not going to be your hard work and good plan. Get your perspective right. He is the ONE who can truly provide what you need.
• Focus on God and His Kingdom, and “all these things will be given to you as well.”
• Focus on going after your material needs, and you will end up with frustrations and worries.
Therefore this is one FOCUS we cannot do without. We cannot let the common needs around us distract us from this.
• Fulfilment in life can only come for this right FOCUS.
• Let me explain why, from 3 comments that Jesus made in this discourse:
1. We put God first because that’s the PURPOSE of life
Matt 6:25 “Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”
Have you ever wonder why are you here? To eat and live? Some people says they live to eat.
• Jesus asked a question. It’s meant for us. We got to think and answer.
• There is more to life than sustenance. We don’t work hard only to make a living, to make ends meet.
• If all we busy ourselves with on earth is for our rice bowls, then we are merely going for existence. But that’s not the reason why God puts us here.
God did not bless us with an existence but with a life – a life with God!
• If you ask Adam and Eve what it means to be alive, they will tell you.
• It is a life with God, a walk with God in the Garden. Don’t minimise life to mere existence.
The entire discourse was spoken in the context of a relationship with God, our heavenly Father.
• We are here to walk with Him, serve Him and glorify Him. We are to live FOR Him.
• If we are made for this PURPOSE, then we can never be fulfilled apart from putting God and His Kingdom first.
The flip side of this will be an existence on earth.
• It will be like a car with its engine running but no driver. It burns up its fuel and drains away energy but gets nowhere. And over time, the car goes dead.
• Life, without reference to God, is just like that. We use up our energy, our time, our money, and even our health, and over time, we drain our life away and dies.
• Only to find out that we have not gone anywhere. Nothing is achieved.
Put God first and invest your life in His Kingdom, because that’s why you are here.
2. We put God first because that’s the WORTH of life
Matt 6:26 “Are you not much more valuable than they?”
A poor woman wanted to sell something to a trader to get money. She planned to see a beautiful art piece hanging on the wall of her living room. When the trader comes, she opens the door and pushed a flower pot against it.
The trader took a look at the painting. But he wasn’t really interested. In fact, he was staring at the flower pot. And he was surprised. He told the lady that this pot is an antic and worth much more than the painting. The lady uses us as a door stopper!
Do you know your worth? Do you know what you should be doing with your life?
Jesus started off this discourse with the word THEREFORE in 6:25.
• He says THEREFORE, which means this conversation flows from the previous.
• 6:19-24 Jesus contrasts the treasures of heaven with the treasures on earth, “where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” (v.19).
• He tells us that if our eyes are bad, we cannot focus well and the whole body’s function is affected. You failed to see what is important.
• We are distracted by different loves. We cannot have to masters. He says the love for God and money are incompatible and incomparable. We cannot focus on two things at the same time.
In order words, not everything is equal. Some things are clearly more valuable and significant, while others are just not worth our time and effort.
• Jesus tells the answer straight - THEREFORE “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” (v.25)
Don’t busy yourself going after what to eat, drink and wear. Your rice bowl is not all there is to life.
• We are getting the whole order wrong if we focus on these and neglect God’s Kingdom.
• Remember the words God spoke through prophet Haggai? Haggai 1:3-6 “Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4"Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" 5Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 6You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
Are we putting the cart before the horse? There are more worthy causes for us to do with our precious lives.
• Jesus says in verse 26 – let me paraphrase it - don’t just think about “sowing or reaping or storing away in barns” because even the birds do not do that and they are fed. And you are more precious than birds!
• To Jesus, the real issue clear. It is not the lack of bread and butter, but the lack of TRUST in God. It is an issue of FAITH.
• Are you not much more valuable than the birds? Can worrying add a single hour to your life? Will God not clothe you, O you of little faith?
Each time you worry, do a self-check. Pause and reflect. Why are you feeling that way?
• Almost all the time, it has to do with this – your difficulty in believing that God is good to you!
• He may be good to many others and provides for them, but not to you. It’s an issue with TRUST.
• Trust Him, Jesus says. Start by thinking about His goodness, His gifts to you in the past. Count your blessings and start to thank Him!
3. We put God first because that’s the FULFILMENT of life
Matt 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Jesus points to something very obvious when he says, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” The obvious answer is only God can.
• Jesus says the birds don’t sow or reap or store food in barns, and yet they are fed, housed, and cared for. The flowers of the field don’t labour or spin, and yet they are more richly dressed than the rich and famous.
• Only God can fulfils our longings and supply our need. He can do a better job than you.
Jesus says, “The pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” (v.32)
• The godless has no choice; they run after these things. They have no one to turn to.
• Don’t behave like the godless. Remember our heavenly Father. He is someone who cares for you. Someone who knows what you need before you need it.
Why do we want to put God first?
• That’s the purpose of our lives, that the most worthy thing to do with our precious lives, and that’s the only way to be fulfilled in life.
• You want to experience life to its fullest. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Nothing beats that!
