Verse of the Day 12-7-22

Matthew 6:19-34

“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.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

You Cannot Serve God and Riches

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

“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. (NKJV)

            These verse can be divided up into four distinct sections: laying up treasure in heaven, the eyes as the lamp of the body, you cannot serve both God and wealth, and not worrying. In fact these are probably some of the most important verses that we find in the Bible. And we are going to see that as we look at them a little bit more in depth.

Laying up Treasure in Heaven

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. (Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV)

            Material wealth was often in Israel as a sign of God’s blessing and a reward for obedience. But with wealth comes the danger of having a false sense of security or an erroneous assessment of spiritual standing before God. The heart represents the core of a person’s being, the real inner person. What a person values is driven by the nature of a person’s heart. The material possessions that some people value are subject to the destructive effects of this world. But those who are truly righteous value the greatest treasure in heaven: God himself. Those who set their hearts on God set a healthy trajectory for discipleship.

The Eyes as Lamp of the Body

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23 NKJV)

            The eye is the conduit to the heart. When the eye focuses on something of value, it becomes the conduit that fills the heart with what is being focused on. If the eye is fixed on what is good, the heart is filled with the light of God’s treasure. But if the eye covets earthly treasure, then the heart is filled with darkness.

You Cannot Serve both God and Wealth

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24 NKJV)

            Wealth, which is what the Aramaic word “mammon” means, is a rival god. Satan uses greed and covetousness to ensnare people in idolatry, so Jesus calls his disciples to make a choice: either love, serve, and devote themselves completely to God or be mastered by Satan.

Not Worrying

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. (Matthew 6:25-34 NKJV)

            Disciples should not be intensely worried about the basic issues of life. Worry is wrong when it is misdirected, when it is out of proportion, or when it comes from a lack of trust in the Father’s loving provision.

            The queen of Sheba visited King Solomon when she heard of his fame, and his life became a proverbial success story (1 Kings 10:1-29 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-28). Cut grass (a natural source for fuel in fire ovens) is a common metaphor in the Bible for sudden changes of fortune and for human frailty and transience (e.g., Psalm 37:2 and 102:4). Worrying is a sign of “little faith” (Matthew 6:30), which is not the absence of faith but a deficiency of faith. Instead of worrying, disciples are to make the kingdom of God the center of their continual, daily priorities. As they pursue God’s kingdom, they will have all their needs met by their ever-caring, ever-watching heavenly Father.

Today’s Bible Readings:

Hosea 6-9, 3 John 1, Psalm 126:1-6 and Proverbs 29:12-14