Staying Focused On God

Many times when we think of being blessed the focus is on financial and physical things.  If we are struggling financially we feel God has forgotten us or that we are not doing what we should. False teachers reinforce that concept, using scriptures such as Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”   Others go in the opposite direction, impoverishing themselves in the belief that “money is the root of all evil.”    Unfortunately, this is a misquotation of I Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil…”  The Greek words actually say “Avarice (greed) is the root of all evil.” 

The problem is not money, but the attitude toward it, as Jesus points out in Matthew 6:19-25.  “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?”

Those physical things can all disappear at a moment’s notice, and none of them can be taken into eternity.  Our heart will be focused on the things that are most important to us.  As Jesus points out if a persons eyes work together, he has no difficulty seeing, but if they don’t work together and he is seeing double it is very hard for him to accomplish anything.  To succeed, he will be forced to block out what one eye sees, and the same thing happens to a person who tries to serve God while worrying about their physical wellbeing.    We can’t serve God while focused on worldly desires and goals. 

Matthew 6:26-30 continues, “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?” 

God provides the food for every bird and wild animal.  Sometimes they have more than they can eat and other times just enough to get by, but they don’t worry about it and we shouldn’t either.  After all our worrying does not really change anything.  Even the bees and ants who carefully save up food for the winter don’t worry about having enough, but just collect what God supplies and trust him that it will be enough.  We spend vast amounts on having nice clothes, but some of the most beautiful flowers last only a single day.  Even the richest person cannot make things more beautiful than what God provides, so why do we worry so much about outdoing each other?  

We need to learn to just enjoy what we have right now, whether is a lot, or just a little.  Matthew 6:31-34 commands, “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.” 

God knows exactly what we need.  He supplies for both the Christians and those who are not Christians.  We don’t need to worry that he doesn’t care, or that he doesn’t understand what we need.   He will supply for us just like he does for the birds and wild animals.  We shouldn’t feel guilty when he supplies more than we need, nor should we feel deprived when he just supplies enough for today. 

When Israel was in the wilderness, most days God just supplied enough manna for one day, but once a week, on Friday, he supplied twice as much.  The Jews were expected to save enough of the extra to last until Sunday.   Sometimes, when God gives extra, he expects us to save it for use in the future.  If we just give it away, we may end up going without because we didn’t take care of what he gave us.  We must learn to trust him whether we have a lot or just enough for today.  We must not let our situation distract us from seeking God and his will.