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."
To me, this is one of the most beautifully written passages in the entire New Testament, and another one of the most abused.
The lesson herein, is a continuance of yesterday's, and deals with faith and the human propensity to hoard earthly goods.
In the first portion of the quote, Jesus says, "No man can serve two masters:", truer words were never written. Yet today, the vast majority of "Christian" effort is spent on amassing worldly wealth.
Collective "Christianity" claims to have and to live by, faith, we claim God as our Master, through that faith. However, in my opinion, very few even know what the term "faith" actually means.
Given the choice between going to collect a million dollars from a winning lottery ticket, and turning aside to preach the gospel of Jesus to some lost soul. Which do you thing the the vast majority of modern "Christianity" would choose?
If a person truly has faith, there is no choice, that person will ALWAYS preach first and let God handle all else.
Sadly, we know that given the scenario above, most would not even hesitate, they would run to cash the ticket.
As the children of God, and those who claim His power through faith, which Master do we truly worship.
NOTE: There is another element to this lesson we will go into tomorrow.~
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