Bible Challenge Day 7...uh...6

Genesis 16-18, Psalm 6, Matthew 6

So here I am after a crazy busy weekend and a long shift at work.  A shift, I might add, that ended at 10:45pm when I have to be back at the same job at 5:30am tomorrow.  Ick.  This weekend was filled with two performances, several rehearsals, piano practicing, line memorizing, laundry washing...the list goes on and on.  I actually had the shakes on Friday I was so tired and so stressed that I wouldn't get everything done.  Then I come home, grab a beer, read my Bible, and there's Jesus saying, "...can any of you by worrying  add a single hour to your span of life?"  My initial reaction is that Jesus doesn't get my problem.

Here he is telling me to consider the lilies of the field.  They don't toil, but they're beautiful.  Well that's all fine and dandy if you're a lily, but I'm not.  I'm a human being with rent to pay, gas to buy, taxes to file, student loans weighing me down.  I think I'd be much happier being a lily.

This passage in Matthew has always both confused me and given me hope.  I do like the simplicity of just relying on God, but as the wise saw goes, God helps those who help themselves.  I think what Jesus must be talking about here is not the daily grind, but all the little things that weigh us down.  Things that don't matter.  I'm using lots of cliches here, but my grandmother's favorite thing to tell me is to "not sweat the small stuff."  Of course, she's one to talk.  She used to have this sign on her refrigerator that said, "Hello.  This is God.  I'll be taking care of all your problems today."  Her friend Pat, who's a little bit crazy, crossed out the word God and wrote in "Pat".  I sometimes feel like Pat.  But Jesus tells us that we don't have to worry about all of that.

For me the key verse in this passage is verse 33.  "[S]trive first for the kindgomd of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  Jesus is telling us that the things that really matter are serving God.  Yes, we still have to go through the daily grind.  Yes, I still have to go to work and work diligently so I have money to pay my bills, but that is a means to an end.  And that end is God.

"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.  Today's trouble is enough for today."


NEXT WEEK:
Day 8 - Genesis 19-21; Psalm 7; Matthew 7
Day 9 - Genesis 22-24; Psalm 8; Matthew 8
Day 10 - Genesis 25-27; Psalm 9; Matthew 9
Day 11 - Genesis 28-30; Psalm 10; Matthew 10
Day 12 - Genesis 31-33; Psalm 11; Matthew 11
Day 13 - Genesis 34-36; Psalm 12; Matthew 12
Day 14 - Enjoy hearing the Scriptures read aloud in church