Matthew shared how Jesus told His disciples, “Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you 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 feeds them. Are ye not much better than they?” Jesus continued with the question, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”, and in chapter six and verse twenty-eight of his book, Matthew shared how Jesus asked His disciples, “why take you thought for raiment?” where we read:
And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
The verse reads, “And why take you thought for raiment?” Matthew began with the words, “and why” which means “for what reason” “take you thought” or “are the disciples worried, anxious and trouble with care” “for raiment” which means “on behalf of their clothing and outerwear”. Jesus asked his disciples “why” they were having “anxious thoughts” concerning their “clothing”.
The verse continues, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:” Matthew added the word, “consider” or “learn thoroughly and examine carefully” “the lilies” which means “the flowers” “of the field” or “that belong to the country, piece of land, bit of tillage, farms or neighboring hamlets”, “how they grow” which means “in what way the flowers augment, increase, become greater and enlarge”; “they toil not” or “the flowers do not grow weary, tired and exhausted with burdens or griefs of bodily labor”, “neither do they spin” which means “nor, no and not at all do the flowers spin as though with a spinning wheel”. Jesus told His disciples to “examine carefully” how the “flowers” of the field do not “labor” or “use a spinning wheel” to “increase and become greater” in volume and size.
When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus uses yet another example from nature to demonstrate how the “heavenly Father” cares for people. God desires to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they “believe and trust” in Him, they can see in the “flowers” how He shall care for them. Jesus questioned His disciples concerning their worrying over “clothing”, and if that be our case, let us retreat to the “flowers”, examine them and know with assurance that if God so cares for the “flowers”, He shall certainly care for those who align with Him.
Next time Jesus tells His disciples, “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of” the lilies, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment