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Luke 12
List the reasons Jesus gives that you should not worry. Jesus gives so many reasons that we shouldn’t worry in this life! In just ten short verses, He tells us the following:
- “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” (Lk. 12:23). We are more than mere physical beings. As with the Law, the physical is merely a reflection of the deeper, far more important, spiritual part. Worry about the physical prioritizes the wrong things.
- Worry does not add anything – not one second, not one inch – to our lives. “Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Lk. 12:26). None of our worried efforts will provide us what we need.
- God values us more than the creation we see Him faithfully provide for. We can trust Him to provide for us.
- Worrying limits God, which is a lack of faith. Our labor is not the only possible provision of our needs.
- To focus on our physical provision is to make it our god. We should instead focus on God and trust Him in faith. “But seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” (Lk. 12:31).
- God has graciously given us His kingdom. We do not need to be afraid to let our ‘kingdom’ go.
- There is no security in earthly possessions. Thieves steal, moths destroy. What we store up we can lose in a blink. Far better to live for our eternal future, which nothing can ever take away.
None of this is about living an irresponsible life. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t work, or that it’s okay to kick back and simply enjoy life. What it means is that we are God’s servants and should be diligently about His business. That looks different for each of us, because God puts His servants to work in different ways. So what it means is that we have a different scale by which we measure life’s decisions. We don’t weigh things out based on what they provide for us or how secure they make us feel. We simply follow the path God lights for us. Easier said than done, I know. Which is why it requires faith.
Dan. 7-8
Why did God give Daniel these visions of the future? What was Daniel’s response? Prophecy. I sometimes wonder at its purpose. If God intended it simply to let us know what was coming, one would think it would be a little…okay, a whole lot clearer. Instead, it is a muddled mess. Even the explanations of meaning make little sense. Perhaps that is by design, though. Because maybe prophecy shows us more than future events.
“End times” prophecies, such as Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation, seem very cyclical to me. And, though Daniel’s second vision specifically says that it concerns the time of the end, some of it has already taken place, as explained by Gabriel. So I ask, the end of what? If “the end” is God’s final judgment on the world, perhaps the prophecies are more about explaining what leads up to that judgment. Perhaps these prophecies point out the vicious, repetitive cycle of human depravity, highlighting our hopeless condition and our need for God.
I see that cycle in Daniel 8:12. “Because of rebellion, the LORD’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.” This is supposed to be a vision of future events, but isn’t that what just happened to Israel? Because of the people’s rebellion, God turned them over to Babylon. He turned His Temple and the sacrificial system over to destruction. For all appearances, evil reigned for a time. I see that same cycle throughout the book of Judges. I also see it in the world today. It isn’t at all difficult for me to see a beast with many rulers running rampant throughout the entire world right now. This beast is trampling God’s people and succeeding in everything it does. And talk about truth being thrown to the ground!!
So what is the meaning of it all? I don’t really know. What I do know, however, is that God’s promise is clear in all of it. There WILL be a day when this vicious cycle ends. God will put an end to all rebellion and the beast of pride that tramples God’s people will be destroyed forever. Not by man, but by God. “Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.” (Dan. 8:25b). Knowing the cycle, knowing God’s promise that it will end, and knowing that God will be faithful to His promise – these are the truths that help us hold fast to faith until “the end” comes.