Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
“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 things of this earth could be here today and gone
tomorrow. A few days ago a tornado ripped through a town in Kentucky, USA, and destroyed
many buildings, homes, and neighborhoods. And a friend of ours had their
outdoor cooker explode on their porch and it burned down their home. They lost
everything, as far as I can recall. So, hold lightly to the things of this
world.
We never know what tomorrow or today will hold for us. We
have little control over our future. We have some control, but ultimately all
things are in the hands of God and our plans could come to nothing in an
instant if they are not the plans of God. So, our hope should never be in the
things or in the people of this world, for nothing here is forever.
The same applies to our health. I was doing fairly well
until we had a mice invasion back in August and I got sick from breathing in
the mice feces and urine. For mice carry sicknesses (viruses) with them. All of
a sudden I was very ill, and four months later I still have some of the
symptoms of the virus. And then my right knee went out on me a few weeks ago
and now I am having to walk using a walker. I did not anticipate any of this
happening.
So, don’t put your dependency in the things of this world
for today you could lose your house, your property, your job, your health,
family members, income, savings, and anything that is of this world and of these
earthly bodies which are subject to failure. All this is temporary. And all of
it could go away in an instant. So don’t spend all you have to accumulate stuff.
But it isn’t just that these things are temporary that we
should not put our dependency or our hope in them or that we should not
accumulate unnecessarily the stuff of this world and regard them as our
treasures. We should not have any other gods before God and we shouldn’t have
our dependency in the things of this life but only in the Lord.
And our focus should not be on the things of this world but
on the things of God and of heaven and on things which are eternal and that are
going to last forever. Our own eternal destiny depends on it, as well as others
might, too. For we should be about God’s kingdom work, not building our own
earthly kingdoms. And we should be about doing his will and sharing the gospel
with others rather than focusing on entertaining ourselves.
Matthew 6:22-23 ESV
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
If our spiritual eyesight (perceptiveness, judgment,
discernment) is healthy (sound, whole; a single undivided focus without a
secret double agenda), then our whole body (mind, body, heart, and soul) will
be full of light (truth, righteousness).
In contrast, if our spiritual eyesight (judgment,
discernment) is bad (evil, wicked, malicious, slothful), our whole being (body,
mind, heart, and soul) will be full of darkness (absent of truth and
righteousness, full of evil, wickedness, immorality, disobedience, and
rebellion against God).
So, how do we get healthy eyes spiritually? How do we attain
good judgment? We can’t do it ourselves. We can’t muster this up in our own
flesh. We only get this via God-given faith in Jesus Christ – a faith which leads
one to submit to Christ as Lord and to leave one’s sinful lifestyles behind him,
and which directs him to walk in obedience to the Lord.
We naturally, by being born with sin natures, have poor
spiritual eyesight. We, by nature, lack in good judgment and discernment, and
we are absent of righteousness, and we are full of evil. But this should not
describe us once we have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ and we have been
born again of the Spirit of God. Now we should have new natures.
Now we should have good spiritual wisdom and discernment,
and we should be making wise and spiritual choices for our lives. We should be
no longer walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the flesh, but now we
should be walking according to the Spirit, living holy lives pleasing to God.
Now we should be choosing God’s choices for our lives and obeying them.
But if the light in us is darkness, what does that mean?
Well, if the light is truth and righteousness and it is Jesus Christ and we
claim to be a child of God and a devotee to Jesus Christ but we are still
walking in the darkness, then the “light” that is within us is not true light
but it is still darkness, for we haven’t truly come into the light for we are
still walking in darkness.
So, we need to understand that faith in Jesus Christ is not
just a free ride to heaven but it is a transformation of our minds and hearts,
of the Spirit of God, away from living for sin and for self to desiring after
our Lord and his righteousness. Now we want to obey our Lord, and we want to
walk in his truth, and we no longer want to live in sin. Amen! Glory to God!
Matthew 6:24 ESV
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
This word translated here as “money” is not necessarily just
money but it is anything in which we place our trust and confidence. It can be
possessions, but it can also be intellect or talent or prestige or health or
other people, or anything that is of this flesh and of this world that is
temporary and that is passing away. Our trust is not to be in the things of
this life.
So, the point of this, which fits with the whole of what is
being talked about here, is that we can’t walk in the light and in the darkness
at the same time. We can’t have Jesus as our Lord if what we are worshiping is
ourselves or other people or entertainment or sinful addictions, etc. We can’t
go left and right at the same time for they are opposites.
Well, the same applies to our faith in Jesus Christ. We can’t
have genuine faith in Jesus Christ and live the opposite of what he is about,
and what he teaches us regarding how we should live. We can’t live for the pleasures
of this world and to please God at the same time. So we can’t be true
Christians if we are still living to please our flesh and the devil.
For, Jesus Christ came into this world to save us, not just
from the punishment of sin, but to save us from our addiction (slavery) to sin
and to give us new lives in Jesus Christ free from the control of sin and of
Satan, and free to now live for the Lord and to walk in his holiness and
righteousness. He came to deliver us out of our lives of living for sin and for
self so that we would now live for him and to do his will.
Songwriters:
Greene Lee Rufus / Lowry Mark Alan
Mary,
did you know that your baby boy
Would
one day walk on water?
Mary,
did you know that your baby boy
Would
save our sons and daughters?
Did
you know that your baby boy
Has
come to make you new?
This
child that you delivered, will soon deliver you
Mary,
did you know that your baby boy
Is
Lord of all creation?
Mary,
did you know that your baby boy
Would
one day rule the nations?
Did
you know that your baby boy
Is
heaven's perfect Lamb?
That
sleeping child you're
Holding
is the great, I Am
Mary,
did you know?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_cFk7zBGik
Caution:
This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment