Lesson 716

(Lesson 716)(08-05-13) Today's lesson concerns the circumstances within which Jesus first invoked the word "faith". That usage appears in Matthew 6:30. For context, we will quote Matthew 6:19-34; "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

Herein, Jesus very clearly explains what the word faith truly means for those who might dare to claim it. Jesus demonstrates, that to actually have faith, we must exercise it in everything we undertake in life. To exercise faith, we must allow ourselves to be wholly dependent upon God, through that faith, for EVERYTHING, ALWAYS. NEVER worrying about what tomorrow might bring, or how we will prepare for it. Because if we do indeed have faith, we KNOW God will provide it all for us.

Does this mean we should just lie down and do nothing? No! We are to step forward and reach out for those things necessary to life, and the things that make us happy, because the effort of getting up and acting is also an exercise of our faith in that reaching out is a demonstration of faith. We are also to reach out for those things that simply make us happy and are not necessary to life because they too are a part of God's promise.

A perfect example of most of modern "Christianity" is found in James 4:2, "Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not."
We "ask not" because instead of exercising our faith, we rely on ourselves and demonstrate a lack of the absolute faith in God that assures that our prayer will be answered.

To me, the following are some of the most humbling words that are written in the gospel of Jesus Christ, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

How do we achieve "his righteousness"? Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Romans 4:4-5.~