Luke 12:22-34.

Again I ask that you read the Scripture above before continuing.

My main point tonight is this:  God gives us an inheritance in His kingdom, and it is greater than anything here, and therefore, we should not worry about our status here on Earth, but look forward to this eternal gift from God.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, probably a month, maybe?  Not sure.  I’ve been experiencing some consistent inconsistency in my life, especially in regard to my walk with God and my attitude towards my days.  Over the past 24 hours, God has been working in my heart to remove hardship, laziness, and develop in me a better attitude towards life.  I’ve found that when I walk with God, and reject walking towards the things of this world, things to turn out better.

Yet the things of this world can be so tempting.  How many times have you, have I, asked God for something we know we don’t really need?  A few weeks ago, I told God I was worried because I was having “major” troubles with my phone, laptop, and car.  I even tried to cover it up by saying I was worried it would affect my ability to stay in touch with those I serve with.  In some ways, that’s true.  But what I found over the next few days was that I was fooling myself.  I serve the God of the universe.  His plan for my life and what He wants to do on this campus isn’t going to be affected by a cell phone whose screen was blinking with all the colors of the rainbow or a faulty car.  He is the eternal Creator and Author of life…what was I thinking?

What are we thinking?  In Luke 12:22-23, Jesus speaks to his disciples, telling them not to worry:

“Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”

This isn’t a request from the Lord.  It is a command.  Stop worrying, stop being anxious.  David Platt puts it this way: “Worry is a sure sign that you have forgotten that you are a child of God.”  I completely agree.  We have a heavenly Father who is more than willing, more than able, and more than pleased, to provide for us, to give us what we need to do what He has called us to do.

Luke 11:10-13 says “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent, or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Please don’t miss this: The greatest gift God gives us is Himself.  He graciously loves and saves us if we have placed our trust in Jesus, and He is faithful to bestow on us the Holy Spirit, God, so that we do not walk this life alone.  No matter the circumstance, if you are a child of God, you have the Holy Spirit.  But God lavishes blessings on us, and we’ll talk about this one great gift that ought not to be neglected soon.

Don’t miss this either: God’s good gifts to us are from Him, and it is He who determines what is good, and what we truly need, not us.  We may believe we need a new car, and that seems good to us, but keep in mind that Jesus just said we were evil.  So how could we know what good really is?  We can’t, but God does.  And so He is able to give us what we truly need, what is truly good, for He is good.

We ask for the gift, says Platt, and get the giver.  Isn’t that amazing?  God comes down, indwells in us through the Holy Spirit, and allows us to enjoy Him!

So why is it that we worry?  If we call ourselves children of God, and we have a personal relationship with God, who created the world and who is sovereign, in control, over every inch of it, why do we worry, thinking that we know best?

Luke 12:24-28 tells us to consider the ravens, lilies, and the grass, all of which are vastly less important than us, but still taken care of and dressed, and blessed, by God Almighty.  In light of this, Jesus says, in verses 29-31, “Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.  For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.  Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

I think I’ve mentioned somewhere on here before that I used to struggle tremendously with anxiety.  Sometimes I still do.  I was nervous about everything, from my situation with friends, my mom, my life, what I was going to do the next week, month, and year.  I was nervous even about little things.  It wrecked me, and that along with sin brought me to the point of tears time and time again, doubting God’s love.  I finally realized what it meant to be a child of God….that whenever this world got me down, whenever life kicked my butt, and whatever trials and circumstances may arise, that the Creator of the universe, and of my life, the God who loved me, who saved me, was the same God that walked beside me, holding me up, helping me bear it.  I would not be here without Him, and there is no doubt about it.

God is more than able to give us peace.  Read through Philippians.  In the face of persecution and hardship, God is faithful to restore us.  And our response should be joy in that we are living a life similar to that of Christ.  We should rejoice that God has blessed us tremendously.

A link exists between our worry and our wants, between our fear of not having enough and our fear in general.  Our attitude towards the things of this world will affect our anxiety.

There’s a disturbing trend among teens and young adults of materialism, of consumerism, of caring way too much about vain things.  I remember the high school conversations, and college ones, about just stupid stuff, and sadly, I was a part of it.  When you die, and leave this place, no one will care about what kind of phone you had, the car you drove, or the parties you went to.  Hear this 10-30 year old: The only thing that matters in this world is what you do with Jesus Christ.  Stop making other things your priority.  They will not last, and they will not satisfy you.  Nothing outside of Jesus Christ can satisfy you and give you true life.  The only thing that matters when we die is our response to Jesus.

We will not take our possessions into heaven.  So many times I think we hear that, but yet we’re so quick to lose sight of what that really means.  Does that mean Jesus doesn’t want us to work hard to support our family, have a home, and honor Him with even these things?  No, but what it means is that if we center our lives and our heart around these things instead of God, we have failed to understand what it means to follow Christ.

Luke 9:58 says “And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.'”  You ever stop to think about the fact that Jesus was homeless?  Our Lord and Savior was homeless.  That should impact us on a few levels.  It should help us take to heart that passage in the Word about caring for the homeless, while making us realize that our treasure is not here.  It’s up above, in heaven, with God.

What is this treasure?  I’ve said that God gives us Himself, but that’s not all, for God is incredibly and ridiculously good.  He has established for us a gift, an eternal gift, that is our reward for persevering in Christ.  This thing that He delights in giving to us, what is it?  Why am I telling you to forsake the things of this world for God?  Why is it worth it?

Read the next post to continue.