Devotion - Monday, October 23

As I sat down yesterday morning I thought, "The Gospel is such a comfort to my heart, why are so many of my sermons angry and challenging?"

The text yesterday sent me off into thoughts of how we know what God would ask of us, but we find it very difficult to to it.

This morning I read what might be the most comforting of all passages.  It is Matthew 6:25-34 (the verses are below.)  Jesus tells us how precious we are in the eyes of God, and that we need not be anxious about what we are to eat or what we are to wear.

The message of Jesus is a great comfort.  The Word of God is a light to my path.  The love God has for me allows me to make my way through this world.  I may have items on my to-do list, but at the top of each list is a simple reminder to receive and rejoice in the gifts of God.

This is the message I want to share.  This is the attitude I want to reflect.  This is the state of grace in which I find myself and to which I invite you.

Pastor Chris

PS:  I will be spending the next three days with my sisters and brothers of the SC Synod.  There may not be easy access to internet so I may miss the next two mornings.  

Matthew 6:25-34

'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. 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 can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry 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 clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.