Daily Reading: 8-3-16
Luke 12:22-31 The Living Bible (TLB)
By the time you read this passage, I should be back home from a much needed vacation with my husband. We needed a time to rest, relax, and enjoy the beauty of God’s presence in creation. God desires that each one of us would relax, stop worrying, and simply enjoy Him. We all need to step away from the demands of life from time to time in order to be replenished.
God will always meet our needs. He has promised to provide for us when we make His Kingdom our priority. We make the Kingdom of God our primary concern when we allow the Holy Spirit to work Christ’s righteousness in our souls (mind, will, emotions), so we can remain in peace and be filled with joy.
In our passage, today, Jesus is teaching his disciples about the need to trust God’s care for their lives. If God’s people will pursue and trust Him, like creation does, we will find ourselves secure, safe, fed, and warm in His love.
Luke 12:22-31
22 Then turning to his disciples he said, “Don’t worry about whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. 23 For life consists of far more than food and clothes. 24 Look at the ravens-they don’t plant or harvest or have barns to store away their food, and yet they get along all right-for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!
25 “And besides, what’s the use of worrying? What good does it do? Will it add a single day to your life? Of course not! 26 And if worry can’t even do such little things as that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
27 “Look at the lilies! They don’t toil and spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not robed as well as they are. 28 And if God provides clothing for the flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, don’t you suppose that he will provide clothing for you, you doubters? 29 And don’t worry about food-what to eat and drink; don’t worry at all that God will provide it for you. 30 All mankind scratches for its daily bread, but your heavenly Father knows your needs. 31 He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the restoration you bring me when my soul gets weary. I know to come to you because you love me. Continue the work of your Kingdom in and through me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.