MATTHEW
CHAPTER
6
1."Beware of practicing your piety before others to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your father in heaven.
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 1)
Oh father this is something that I am always aware of. At times people may consider me as being a pious person however, although I do my best with Your help to be a good person I am still a sinner and prone to sin. Try as I might to be a person who always does good deeds I always end up messing up and at times hurt others as a consequence.
As a rule of thumb I ask myself, if the action that I am doing has the aim of helping others, or if it has the intention of boosting my self image, or the way others may view me. On reflecting I remember a situation when You made me aware that what I was doing had ended up being a negative act, even though it was of a spiritual nature. I used to read scripture during mass. One day a youth approached me and told me that he liked the way I read and that he was attending mass because of me. I explained to him that he was attending mass for the wrong reasons and it was right to attend because of me.
When I was reading scripture the following week You intervened by creating a situation that made my reading be read so bad that even a toddler would have had a better pronunciation. When I started reading something strange happened. I could not understand or recognise the words of the scripture before me. It was as if it was a foreign language. In order to save my face I started inventing words that I thought matched that of the scripture before me and tried to make a good job of it. I was not reading for You my God or for the benefit of those attending mass. I was doing it for myself and I was making a mess of it. From that day on wards I learnt my lesson and even stopped reading during mass. I learnt that what I do I do for the love of God to seek the reward from God and not the praise and gratitude of mankind.
2. "So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4. so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 2 to 4)
Oh Father you are so humble. You want us to be like You in the sense of doing our good acts in secret and not to obtain the praise and popularity of others. When giving donations of money to others who may be asking it of us, we are not to think whether the person is really in need or if he is faking with the intention of bleeding us of our money to go and buy drugs. We are to give freely because we have been given freely from God our father. We are to give of what we have as in the following example that may bring a smile on our face:-
Donation of water
5. "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 5 to 6)
Oh God how nice it is of You to give us guidelines on how to offer our prayers to You. Thanks for giving us these precious guidelines. It is very helpful to find a quiet place or go to Church before the Holy Sacrament or even meditate on the Word of God in a quiet environment where you and I can be alone in the presence of Jesus enclosed within our selves and discuss with Him all that has made us happy and thank Him for it, and also that which is still on our minds and is troubling us.
At this moment in time oh Father I am concerned about this terrorist group that is causing much harm everywhere it goes and is threatening to come to Malta. However I know that my life and that of my family is in Your hands and in the worst scenario the worst thing that can happen to us is to be beheaded or shot because we are Christians and believe in You. Indeed for me it would be the greatest end that I could have that of dying because of my faith for what I believe. However if the rest of my family is not ready to appear before You please spare them this terrible experience.
7. "When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9. "Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11. Give us this day our daily bread. 12. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. 13. And do not bring us to the time of trial but rescue us form the evil one. 14. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15. but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 7 to 15)
Jesus explains to us that we are to discard our prayer books and open our hearts personally to Him and offer Him prayers containing our prayers instead of those of somebody else. God is craving for relationship with us. In order to be of help to us, He gave us this particular prayer which contains all we need to live and believe.
The first verse confirms that You oh God are our father. Therefore no other physical father such as parents can ever replace you in our lives. You are our one and only father. This verse is followed by another verse which gives You praise oh God. Halowed be thy name. There is no other name that is worthy of power love and praise in the world. Instead of cursing your name we are to give You praise and worship. This is followed by the fact that Your Kingdom will come. When You came into the World Your Kingdom came in the presence of Jesus and it is still here in the presence of Your Holy Spirit. However Your Kingdom will be reinstated or authorised at the time of Your second coming on earth which is known as the time of Judgement, however Your kingdom comes into our heart at any time especially, during times of prayer, praise and worship to You.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Even though oh God we do not always understand why certain things or events are taking place on earth, we are to rest assured that You are in control and even if I make a mess of a given situation at times without having a bad intention Your will in that situation will still unfold on a personal level and even on a global level.
Give us this day our daily bread. Our aim is not that of having long term riches and plans to gain more and more riches. We are to to be happy with what God gives us every single day, for every day is a gift, and that is why we call it the present.
Forgive us our debts oh God, however, I still find it a challenge to forgive those who have hurt me. In my mind oh God I try and convince myself that I am also a sinner and that as much as others have hurt me, I have also hurt those others. I am also aware that as human beings we are prone to hurt others and be hurt by them, however to sincerely forgive is a goal that I need Your help to accomplish. Throughout my my life both past and present as You know, there were and are people who have deeply hurt me. The level of my self-esteem had become so low that I had a negative perception of myself. However today I realise that when I am viewing myself negatively I am subjecting to disgrace even Your presence that dwells in me.
I thank You God for your love and healing care that restores my soul. I pray that you continue to heal me and strengthen me in my areas of weakness. I pray today and always that You deliver me from my moments of weakness and forsake me from placing both my body and my soul in harm.
In a spirit of prayer I invite you reader of this blog to join me in the praying of the Lord's prayer by clicking on the following link-
The Lord's prayer
16. "And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 to 17)
As is found many times oh God You do not like it when we do things or acts, simply in order to impress others and not to give praise and worship to You. As You said when we try to impress others we receive the merit from others, therefore I if at any point I have tried to impress others, I am also not worthy to receive the mercy of God. I pray oh God that You help me remain in a state of humility and help me never to consider myself above others. Help me please to always be available to others and consider their needs even before that of my own.
18. So that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 18)
Jesus is insisting that we do we do in secret. Nobody needs to know if we are being of help to an elderly person who needs our support, or maybe a person who is going through a bad patch in ones life. When helping others we are helping You oh God. Therefore what we do we do in secret and not make it a public scene so that others may praise us for our efforts.
19. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. 20. but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 to 21)
Oh God many material goods or even people and even our careers can become our treasures. We easily end up investing more on earthly achievements than on our spiritual lives. The funny thing is that we say we invest in the future and talk about long term goals, however in reality we invest in things and investments that pass instead of investing in things that remain forever such as our life in heaven. A career has a beginning and an ending. We can achieve the peak in our career, however a simple or fatal accident can easily bring our career to an end. If what we aim for is not according to God's will and plan, it will never be a success or will end up leading us to follow the pathway to our destruction as is the case of many who have even reached stardom and ended up committing suicide because God was not in their choice of career.
22. "The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy your whole body will be full of light; 23. but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 22 to 23)
All the images that we see by means of our eyes are sent to the brain. The images are stored in different parts of our memory located in our brain. Different parts of the image such as colour and related connotations such as love, fear and anger, or arousal are also stored in different parts of the brain. On the other hand oh God You gave us a computer in our head that forgets nothing. However the eyes are the keyboard of this magnificent computer. If we focus on positive images, our brain will have in it positive images that sends positive feelings, thoughts and behaviour to the rest of the body thus giving it a positive attitude to both the body mind and spirit. However if our eyes are contaminated by negative images such as porn, beheading, crime and other negative situations our brain is going to be contaminated by such images. In time if exposed to such a negative perception such as is viewed on line or on Television we might start considering this reality and or virtual reality as being real and justified. Playing simulated war or fighting games that destroy another opponent may convince us that fighting is justified over seeking a solution to peace.
The following scene from the film 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is a typical example of how our perceptions can become contaminated, sinful and aggressive. One of the children who found the golden tickets hidden in the Wonka Bars was a child who as in Matthew chapter 6 verses 22 to 23 had his eye contaminated. The violent war games that he played left feelings of aggression in him so much that when he was in a beautiful valley where everything was made of chocolate, the child started destroying all the beautiful chocolate fruit and grass where he was standing. His father who was nearby was amazed by his sons behaviour. Like you oh Jesus the father tried to make the child aware that what his son was doing was wrong, however the child was so brainwashed that what he was doing was right that he kept on destroying his environment. I invite you to click on the following link and move to the scene that starts from 3.00 to 3.13 on the time bar of this video clip where the son considers violence as means of enjoyment..
When our eyes become contaminated
24. "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other: You cannot serve God and wealth."
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 24)
Jesus is asking us today to make the great big decision that of either following Him and His ways and even the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church that has been given the mandate or permission to practise and uphold the ways of God, or else to choose to adopt ways of the world that may appear to be good but in substance are humanistic and not always according to the ways of God. Typical conflicting issues are those of divorce and abortion, avarice and selfishness that blocks all love and sentiment towards others.
25. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26. Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 to 26)
Oh God thanks for thinking about all our needs. Thanks for being our source of salvation, our source of care and love and our safety valve in moments of danger. Thanks for caring so much for me and the human race. You assure me that if you care so much about the birds of the air, how much more will you care for us. By means of verses 25 to 26 you make me aware of the need to have healthy priorities in my life in order to be able to discern what is of you and is therefore of a priority to what is of the world which may not always be of a priority. In the mentioned example you gave me a typical example when you asked us about which was the most important life or food and clothing. On reflecting other questions come to mind, such as what is the most important giving birth to a baby or choosing to abort it in order to pursue a career? Aborting a child that is the result of rape or giving it a chance to be born and learn how to love. What is best being rich mighty and powerful at the risk of a huge downfall that may bring the career and life in danger or leading a simple life that depends on an honest living and God's divine providence.
27. And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 27)
On reflecting this verse is meant typically for me, who according to my sinful nature when acting according to the flesh am a born worrier instead of a born warrior. Worry used to be my first name, however God is helping me handle this barrier however I am still a building site that is under construction. Today I have a different response. Instead of automatically letting my stress response fight or flight get the better of me as before, I am trying to stop and pray on the situation and accepting any event in my life as being according to the will of God. Your Word oh God is a perfect manual. In situations when I feel that I was treated unfairly I remember that You source of all justice and goodness was cheated, lied against and even crucified on my behalf. Therefore if my Master was treated in this way, how can I His servant expect to be treated any better?
28. And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29. yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30. But if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith?
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 28 to 30)
Oh God You love us so much that you care for us from a wide perspective, and therefore we need not worry. I totally agree with You oh Jesus that stress or worry is related to sin or lack of faith which breeds in us strong feelings of insecurity. Therefore the next time we find ourselves anxious or worrying we stop and ask ourselves about the source of our worry. Is it the source of fear and if yes of what? At times we are afraid and worried about things that have not yet happened or have a high chance of not happening at all. Therefore the best thing is to place our trust in God and cross the bridges when we come to them.
31. Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?" or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?"32. For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 31 to 33)
Oh how generous You are oh God. You ask of us to place our focus particularly on 1% of our lives with the promise that You will help us in the provision of the remaining percentage. However although you made this promise this does not mean that we are to retire from our employment and spend our days praying on the work of God. A healthy balance is to be found. When God sees that we have our focus on Him our life changes and we are then open to receive His divine providence which is in both graces and at times even material goods according to the given situation. Jesus may not come personally with a blank check but may stimulate somebody to place an advert for a job vacancy to you and me are able to apply for as eligible candidates.
34. "So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 34)
When we worry we increase our stress and even have a negative impact on those around around us. Worry can only breed further worry, therefore in order to free ourselves from this vicious circle we are to place our trust in God and live the day. In his sermon on the mount Jesus instructs us not to be burdened with demands that do not actually concern the given moment or time. This does not mean that we are to be lax in our duties, but on the other hand if we place our faith and trust in Him we will not end up biting more than we can chew. One thing we can keep in mind is that if everything fails in life God is our safety net and He is able to provide us with all we need. He has already given us a social system that caters for our needs from the cradle to the grave, on the other hand if we die at least we know that we have a Father in heaven who is ready to welcome us as His sons and daughters, therefore on reflecting we have really nothing to worry about.
In order to remain on this positive note in light of verse 34 which brings us to the end of chapter 6 of the book of Gospel of Matthew I invite you to click on the following link and reflect and maybe even join Bob Marley in his song in a spirit of prayer that like Jesus invites us not to worry.
Song Don't Worry be happy
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 2 to 4)
Oh Father you are so humble. You want us to be like You in the sense of doing our good acts in secret and not to obtain the praise and popularity of others. When giving donations of money to others who may be asking it of us, we are not to think whether the person is really in need or if he is faking with the intention of bleeding us of our money to go and buy drugs. We are to give freely because we have been given freely from God our father. We are to give of what we have as in the following example that may bring a smile on our face:-
Donation of water
5. "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 5 to 6)
Oh God how nice it is of You to give us guidelines on how to offer our prayers to You. Thanks for giving us these precious guidelines. It is very helpful to find a quiet place or go to Church before the Holy Sacrament or even meditate on the Word of God in a quiet environment where you and I can be alone in the presence of Jesus enclosed within our selves and discuss with Him all that has made us happy and thank Him for it, and also that which is still on our minds and is troubling us.
At this moment in time oh Father I am concerned about this terrorist group that is causing much harm everywhere it goes and is threatening to come to Malta. However I know that my life and that of my family is in Your hands and in the worst scenario the worst thing that can happen to us is to be beheaded or shot because we are Christians and believe in You. Indeed for me it would be the greatest end that I could have that of dying because of my faith for what I believe. However if the rest of my family is not ready to appear before You please spare them this terrible experience.
7. "When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9. "Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11. Give us this day our daily bread. 12. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. 13. And do not bring us to the time of trial but rescue us form the evil one. 14. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15. but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 7 to 15)
Jesus explains to us that we are to discard our prayer books and open our hearts personally to Him and offer Him prayers containing our prayers instead of those of somebody else. God is craving for relationship with us. In order to be of help to us, He gave us this particular prayer which contains all we need to live and believe.
The first verse confirms that You oh God are our father. Therefore no other physical father such as parents can ever replace you in our lives. You are our one and only father. This verse is followed by another verse which gives You praise oh God. Halowed be thy name. There is no other name that is worthy of power love and praise in the world. Instead of cursing your name we are to give You praise and worship. This is followed by the fact that Your Kingdom will come. When You came into the World Your Kingdom came in the presence of Jesus and it is still here in the presence of Your Holy Spirit. However Your Kingdom will be reinstated or authorised at the time of Your second coming on earth which is known as the time of Judgement, however Your kingdom comes into our heart at any time especially, during times of prayer, praise and worship to You.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Even though oh God we do not always understand why certain things or events are taking place on earth, we are to rest assured that You are in control and even if I make a mess of a given situation at times without having a bad intention Your will in that situation will still unfold on a personal level and even on a global level.
Give us this day our daily bread. Our aim is not that of having long term riches and plans to gain more and more riches. We are to to be happy with what God gives us every single day, for every day is a gift, and that is why we call it the present.
Forgive us our debts oh God, however, I still find it a challenge to forgive those who have hurt me. In my mind oh God I try and convince myself that I am also a sinner and that as much as others have hurt me, I have also hurt those others. I am also aware that as human beings we are prone to hurt others and be hurt by them, however to sincerely forgive is a goal that I need Your help to accomplish. Throughout my my life both past and present as You know, there were and are people who have deeply hurt me. The level of my self-esteem had become so low that I had a negative perception of myself. However today I realise that when I am viewing myself negatively I am subjecting to disgrace even Your presence that dwells in me.
I thank You God for your love and healing care that restores my soul. I pray that you continue to heal me and strengthen me in my areas of weakness. I pray today and always that You deliver me from my moments of weakness and forsake me from placing both my body and my soul in harm.
In a spirit of prayer I invite you reader of this blog to join me in the praying of the Lord's prayer by clicking on the following link-
The Lord's prayer
16. "And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 to 17)
As is found many times oh God You do not like it when we do things or acts, simply in order to impress others and not to give praise and worship to You. As You said when we try to impress others we receive the merit from others, therefore I if at any point I have tried to impress others, I am also not worthy to receive the mercy of God. I pray oh God that You help me remain in a state of humility and help me never to consider myself above others. Help me please to always be available to others and consider their needs even before that of my own.
18. So that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 18)
Jesus is insisting that we do we do in secret. Nobody needs to know if we are being of help to an elderly person who needs our support, or maybe a person who is going through a bad patch in ones life. When helping others we are helping You oh God. Therefore what we do we do in secret and not make it a public scene so that others may praise us for our efforts.
19. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. 20. but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 to 21)
Oh God many material goods or even people and even our careers can become our treasures. We easily end up investing more on earthly achievements than on our spiritual lives. The funny thing is that we say we invest in the future and talk about long term goals, however in reality we invest in things and investments that pass instead of investing in things that remain forever such as our life in heaven. A career has a beginning and an ending. We can achieve the peak in our career, however a simple or fatal accident can easily bring our career to an end. If what we aim for is not according to God's will and plan, it will never be a success or will end up leading us to follow the pathway to our destruction as is the case of many who have even reached stardom and ended up committing suicide because God was not in their choice of career.
22. "The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy your whole body will be full of light; 23. but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 22 to 23)
All the images that we see by means of our eyes are sent to the brain. The images are stored in different parts of our memory located in our brain. Different parts of the image such as colour and related connotations such as love, fear and anger, or arousal are also stored in different parts of the brain. On the other hand oh God You gave us a computer in our head that forgets nothing. However the eyes are the keyboard of this magnificent computer. If we focus on positive images, our brain will have in it positive images that sends positive feelings, thoughts and behaviour to the rest of the body thus giving it a positive attitude to both the body mind and spirit. However if our eyes are contaminated by negative images such as porn, beheading, crime and other negative situations our brain is going to be contaminated by such images. In time if exposed to such a negative perception such as is viewed on line or on Television we might start considering this reality and or virtual reality as being real and justified. Playing simulated war or fighting games that destroy another opponent may convince us that fighting is justified over seeking a solution to peace.
The following scene from the film 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is a typical example of how our perceptions can become contaminated, sinful and aggressive. One of the children who found the golden tickets hidden in the Wonka Bars was a child who as in Matthew chapter 6 verses 22 to 23 had his eye contaminated. The violent war games that he played left feelings of aggression in him so much that when he was in a beautiful valley where everything was made of chocolate, the child started destroying all the beautiful chocolate fruit and grass where he was standing. His father who was nearby was amazed by his sons behaviour. Like you oh Jesus the father tried to make the child aware that what his son was doing was wrong, however the child was so brainwashed that what he was doing was right that he kept on destroying his environment. I invite you to click on the following link and move to the scene that starts from 3.00 to 3.13 on the time bar of this video clip where the son considers violence as means of enjoyment..
When our eyes become contaminated
24. "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other: You cannot serve God and wealth."
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 24)
Jesus is asking us today to make the great big decision that of either following Him and His ways and even the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church that has been given the mandate or permission to practise and uphold the ways of God, or else to choose to adopt ways of the world that may appear to be good but in substance are humanistic and not always according to the ways of God. Typical conflicting issues are those of divorce and abortion, avarice and selfishness that blocks all love and sentiment towards others.
25. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26. Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 to 26)
Oh God thanks for thinking about all our needs. Thanks for being our source of salvation, our source of care and love and our safety valve in moments of danger. Thanks for caring so much for me and the human race. You assure me that if you care so much about the birds of the air, how much more will you care for us. By means of verses 25 to 26 you make me aware of the need to have healthy priorities in my life in order to be able to discern what is of you and is therefore of a priority to what is of the world which may not always be of a priority. In the mentioned example you gave me a typical example when you asked us about which was the most important life or food and clothing. On reflecting other questions come to mind, such as what is the most important giving birth to a baby or choosing to abort it in order to pursue a career? Aborting a child that is the result of rape or giving it a chance to be born and learn how to love. What is best being rich mighty and powerful at the risk of a huge downfall that may bring the career and life in danger or leading a simple life that depends on an honest living and God's divine providence.
27. And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 27)
On reflecting this verse is meant typically for me, who according to my sinful nature when acting according to the flesh am a born worrier instead of a born warrior. Worry used to be my first name, however God is helping me handle this barrier however I am still a building site that is under construction. Today I have a different response. Instead of automatically letting my stress response fight or flight get the better of me as before, I am trying to stop and pray on the situation and accepting any event in my life as being according to the will of God. Your Word oh God is a perfect manual. In situations when I feel that I was treated unfairly I remember that You source of all justice and goodness was cheated, lied against and even crucified on my behalf. Therefore if my Master was treated in this way, how can I His servant expect to be treated any better?
28. And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29. yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30. But if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith?
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 28 to 30)
Oh God You love us so much that you care for us from a wide perspective, and therefore we need not worry. I totally agree with You oh Jesus that stress or worry is related to sin or lack of faith which breeds in us strong feelings of insecurity. Therefore the next time we find ourselves anxious or worrying we stop and ask ourselves about the source of our worry. Is it the source of fear and if yes of what? At times we are afraid and worried about things that have not yet happened or have a high chance of not happening at all. Therefore the best thing is to place our trust in God and cross the bridges when we come to them.
31. Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?" or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?"32. For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Matthew chapter 6 verses 31 to 33)
Oh how generous You are oh God. You ask of us to place our focus particularly on 1% of our lives with the promise that You will help us in the provision of the remaining percentage. However although you made this promise this does not mean that we are to retire from our employment and spend our days praying on the work of God. A healthy balance is to be found. When God sees that we have our focus on Him our life changes and we are then open to receive His divine providence which is in both graces and at times even material goods according to the given situation. Jesus may not come personally with a blank check but may stimulate somebody to place an advert for a job vacancy to you and me are able to apply for as eligible candidates.
34. "So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
(Matthew chapter 6 verse 34)
When we worry we increase our stress and even have a negative impact on those around around us. Worry can only breed further worry, therefore in order to free ourselves from this vicious circle we are to place our trust in God and live the day. In his sermon on the mount Jesus instructs us not to be burdened with demands that do not actually concern the given moment or time. This does not mean that we are to be lax in our duties, but on the other hand if we place our faith and trust in Him we will not end up biting more than we can chew. One thing we can keep in mind is that if everything fails in life God is our safety net and He is able to provide us with all we need. He has already given us a social system that caters for our needs from the cradle to the grave, on the other hand if we die at least we know that we have a Father in heaven who is ready to welcome us as His sons and daughters, therefore on reflecting we have really nothing to worry about.
In order to remain on this positive note in light of verse 34 which brings us to the end of chapter 6 of the book of Gospel of Matthew I invite you to click on the following link and reflect and maybe even join Bob Marley in his song in a spirit of prayer that like Jesus invites us not to worry.
Song Don't Worry be happy
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