a heavenly father

From Matthew 6, Jesus talking: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

…. and then more in the same chapter:

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Amazing! He’s not saying: riches are evil, care for yourself through thinking about what you will eat or wear is evil, but that we have a heavenly Father that loves and cares for us in a personal way. He wants to interact with us through our dependence on Him. He wants to help our faith and show us, “I am living, I am God, and I care/provide for you!”

I also don’t think he’s saying, if you seek God, then he will give you… as a contingency statement. He’s saying you can’t do both (note: cannot love God and money verse is also in Matthew 6). All the things there are to pursue are not worthy of our energy/the expense of our lives except one thing: relationship with God. He is the point of our lives. If we let worry camp in our life we miss the opportunity to enjoy God. He will provide all the things necessary for life. More necessary than these things is him because he is the author of life. We can relax and let talking and listening to him take up our mind-space.

Jeez, I love him!