A Penny For Your Thoughts
When I was a girl, people used to say: “A penny for your thoughts.” Little did they or I know then just how valuable thoughts are. Thoughts determine our whole life and future as they become words out of our mouths if we think those thoughts long enough. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as we think in our hearts, so are we. In other words, whatever we think on, we become. That is not speaking of having a thought just one time. That is speaking of the same thought that we have over and over in our minds until it lodges in our hearts and produces words which produce actions which produce whatever it is we have been thinking. As we all know, that can produce good or bad results in our lives, depending on what we have been thinking.
Jesus told us in Matthew 6 and Luke 12 that we are to take no thought of our life, what we shall wear, eat or drink, for our Heavenly Father cares for us. He told us that we are to seek God’s Kingdom first and all these things shall be supplied to us, added to us. We are not to be anxious or have fear that our Father will not take care of us. It is our Father’s delight and pleasure to give us His Kingdom. And what is His Kingdom? His Kingdom is everything He has and is. As we think His thoughts, we walk in what He has.
It is interesting to me that my Bible has these headings over both passages in Matthew and Luke, “The Teaching About Anxiety,” “Anxiety and God’s Kingdom.” That tells me that it is critical that I get rid of anxiety, cares, dread, concerns and anxious moments concerning my life. And the reason for letting go of those things is that my Heavenly Father takes care of every little detail of my life.
Let’s look at Matthew 6:22-32.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But 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!
24No 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. 25Therefore 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? 26Behold 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? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, 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? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
What Jesus is saying in this passage is that we are to take no anxious thought in our lives. We are not to get into anxiety over what is going to happen to us or our loved ones because our Heavenly Father knows what we need and has already made provision for that need ahead of time. What happens to all of us is that we tend to start heading toward panicville when what we perceive as the time frame for that need to be met has seemingly come and gone as far as we are concerned. But here is where trust, faith comes in. Every one of us must continually picture our Heavenly Father taking care of us. The reason we tend to be anxious is that we are looking at things from our earthly standpoint. And I have discovered in my own life that anxiety is produced when I don’t have it in my ability to do anything about it myself. That, of course, is a wonderful place to be because our Father delights in doing what looks like the impossible for us. He also delights in doing the possible as well. We sometimes forget about that. Let’s think on the good things of God today and focus on His care for us.
Jesus told us in Matthew 6 and Luke 12 that we are to take no thought of our life, what we shall wear, eat or drink, for our Heavenly Father cares for us. He told us that we are to seek God’s Kingdom first and all these things shall be supplied to us, added to us. We are not to be anxious or have fear that our Father will not take care of us. It is our Father’s delight and pleasure to give us His Kingdom. And what is His Kingdom? His Kingdom is everything He has and is. As we think His thoughts, we walk in what He has.
It is interesting to me that my Bible has these headings over both passages in Matthew and Luke, “The Teaching About Anxiety,” “Anxiety and God’s Kingdom.” That tells me that it is critical that I get rid of anxiety, cares, dread, concerns and anxious moments concerning my life. And the reason for letting go of those things is that my Heavenly Father takes care of every little detail of my life.
Let’s look at Matthew 6:22-32.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But 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!
24No 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. 25Therefore 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? 26Behold 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? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, 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? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
What Jesus is saying in this passage is that we are to take no anxious thought in our lives. We are not to get into anxiety over what is going to happen to us or our loved ones because our Heavenly Father knows what we need and has already made provision for that need ahead of time. What happens to all of us is that we tend to start heading toward panicville when what we perceive as the time frame for that need to be met has seemingly come and gone as far as we are concerned. But here is where trust, faith comes in. Every one of us must continually picture our Heavenly Father taking care of us. The reason we tend to be anxious is that we are looking at things from our earthly standpoint. And I have discovered in my own life that anxiety is produced when I don’t have it in my ability to do anything about it myself. That, of course, is a wonderful place to be because our Father delights in doing what looks like the impossible for us. He also delights in doing the possible as well. We sometimes forget about that. Let’s think on the good things of God today and focus on His care for us.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 6:23 AM
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