A DIFFERENT APPROACH
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what yu will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousnesss, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:25-24)
"Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." These words are attributed to Mark Twain. If he were alive today he might have changed his subject to the price of fuel. Jesus' words, taken from the "Sermon on the Mount", give us a different approach than what we usually hear. He talks about making God's kingdom the priority and trusting God for the things of this life. I'm sure that if this message had been given in our day, the price of gas would have been included in the discussion. The point is that we must learn to trust God with every area of our lives and believe that He has a plan for us that works. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
This monthly column by Pastor Dave Westman is a call to people to look at the importance and necessity of prayer in the believer's life. A weekly column on prayer by Pastor Westman can be found at Sequim Worship Center's main website.