Our Bible verse for today: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:33-34 (CSB)
Our thought for today: “Honor the Lord by how you live, then relax and trust Him.”
This morning I was thinking about my old friend Dick DeGrow. As a newly minted Pastor in my first church, God had Dick there waiting for me. Dick was a retired Pastor, in his 70’s at that time, and he served as a Deacon, Sunday School teacher, and as the church custodian. He was a gentle, quiet, and happy man. Dick smiled a lot, laughed easily, and he was a real joy to be with. He was also very wise. He was a source of counsel for me as I learned how to navigate through the tricky world of church life.
That was many years ago, but the memory of Dick that stands out to me to this day is of a man who was deeply content. He was satisfied with his simple life, he was serene and not easily disturbed, he enjoyed today, and he looked forward to tomorrow.
The source of Dick’s serenity and contentment can be understood by a brief reading of Matthew 6:19-34. There, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us how to let go of our preoccupation with money and possessions, and our many other worldly concerns, and to focus instead on simply honoring God by how we live and then trusting Him to care for us. Jesus says that if we will learn to do that, we will have found the cure for anxiety and worry.
In recent months at Oak Hill Baptist Church we’ve been studying the Gospel of Matthew on Sunday mornings. We have spent the last seven weeks looking deeply into the Sermon on the Mount. This past Sunday (January 26th), I preached from the passage we’re looking at here this morning (Matthew 6:19-34). I encourage you to go to our church website at www.oakhillbaptist.net, and listen to that sermon. On the home page click on the “listen” tab and select the sermon for January 26th. The title is “Trusting God for Provisions, Possessions, and Peace”. I believe you will quickly see how it was that my friend Dick learned to be so happy and content with the life that he had, and you will discover that the same can be true for you.
One of the greatest turning points any of us will ever experience in life is when we learn to relax and trust God. When that happens, we discover that the life we already have really does matter, and we can be happy and content with it.
Oak Hill Baptist Church