Learning from Jesus - Pt. 11

 

[Jesus said] “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV).

 

Those of you who know me better also know the level of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that I have. I was searching for a photo that might illustrate the angst that I feel when confronted with things that aren’t “right”. As you can see from the photo attached today, this is one of those things. Whoever was operating the packaging machine for these bottles of soda got one package “right,” though the other is not. I’ll leave it to you to decide which one is correct. In fact, I’ll leave it to you to decide if it even matters. For me the one Pepsi bottle is simply wrong. It is a little thing, I know; however, this and countless other little things bother me. When I come home after the cleaning service has been to our house I must go into each room and put things back where the “belong.”

 

In our reading today, Jesus was pretty clear as he taught about life and our worries. I think he was saying, in effect, “Don’t sweat the small stuff. Pay attention to what is important. When you put your focus on me and trust me, the rest will come together. I will be enough for you.” He is not talking about mental disorders of anxiety, though there are remedies to those that begin with recognizing the importance of our focus. The message here is that whatever you might be stressing about, remember that God knows, God cares, and God loves you —and by his grace he will carry you. Actually it might be a serendipity that the one Pepsi got packaged with the Coca Colas!