PT-1 "Worry Is Unfaithful Because of Our Master" (Matt. 6:25)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/31/2020 10:24 AM

 

My Worship Time                             Focus:  PT-1 “Worry Is Unfaithful Because of Our Master”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Matthew 6:25

 

            Message of the verses:  “25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

 

            As we look at the first three words of this verse, “For this reason,” it refers to the previous verse, and in that verse Jesus declares that a Christian’s on Master is God.  “"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”  Jesus is therefore saying, “Because God is your Master, and for believers to worry is to be disobedient and unfaithful to their Master, who is God.  For Christians, worry and anxiety are forbidden, foolish and sinful” (MacArthur). 

 

            He goes on to explain “In the Greek, the command ‘do not be anxious’ includes the idea of stopping what is already being done.  In other words, we are to stop worrying and never start it again.  ‘For your life’ makes the command all-inclusive.  Psuche (‘life’) is a comprehensive term that encompasses all of a person’s being—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  Jesus is referring to ‘life’ in its fullest possible sense.  Absolutely nothing in any aspect of our lives, internal or external, justifies our being ‘anxious’ when we have the Master we do.”

 

            Perhaps one of the most frequent sins that believers commit is to worry, as worry is a sin of distrusting the promise and also the providence of God.  MacArthur writes “The English term worry comes from an old German word meaning to strangle, or choke.  That is exactly what worry does; it is a kind of mental and emotional strangulation, which probably causes more mental and physical afflictions than any other single cause.”

 

            At this time I want to give a very unusual quotation from the sermon that I listened to yesterday from John MacArthur which he gave early in 1980.  I think that all who read this will be very surprised to what he said.  “Let me tell you something that I thought was interesting I read this week.  It really wasn’t related to worry until I saw a very interesting connection, but I was reading about the Bureau of Standards in Washington D.C., and they had a little feature in there that was telling about fog, and what was the composite element of fog.  And this I thought was fascinating.  A dense fog that covers a seven-city-block area 100 feet deep - and by that, they mean a very dense, thick fog 7 blocks and 100 feet deep - is composed of less than one glass of water, divided into 60,000 million drops.  Not much is really there at all, but it can cripple an entire city.  And I think that’s a pretty good illustration of worry.  Put it all together and you don’t have much more than a glass of water, but you can sure mess up a whole lot of people.”

 

            Now the section that we are looking at in this SD from verse 25 is about worrying over the basic necessities of life, like food, water, and clothing, and yet that is not at all what many people around the world are worrying about now, and I think we all know what that worry is.  I have a friend that I have known for many years now who lives in Bangladesh as that is where he was born and still lives.  He went through the time when Bangladesh fought against India for their independence where he certainly could have been killed.  Today he runs a place where the Word of God is taught in his seminary and also was taking care of orphans there too.  He has started many churches.  I have the upmost respect for this man.  Now living in Bangladesh is far different than living in the USA, as there are no handouts from the government when people cannot work.  People who can’t work can’t eat there, so be thankful if you have food on your table at this most difficult time we are living in.  He understands what verse 25 is telling us.

 

            I want to close with one more paragraph from MacArthur’s sermon and as you read it think about the people around the world who don’t have enough food to eat because of what we are going through:  “Now, we worry.  That’s just the expression of human sinfulness.  And I guess we don’t worry any more about any other thing as much as we worry about the basics of life, and so we’re little different than the people to whom Jesus spoke.  Because they worried, and what they worried about - in verse 25 - is what are we going to eat?  And what are we going to drink?  And what are we going to put on our bodies?  I mean, they were worried about the basic stuff.” 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to say that I am thankful to the Lord for providing me with food, water, and clothes at this most difficult time that we are living in.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue to help others who are struggling with the basic necessities of life.

 

12/31/2020 10:55 AM