What Are You Thinking About?

“Take no thought for your life,

What you will eat,

Or what you will drink;

Nor yet for your body what you shall put on.”

Mtt. 6:25 

I have spent SO much time packing clothes for my trips, trying to project what weather, circumstances, activates, and days for which I will need to be prepared.  I consider a lot of “what if’s” and try to plan for the unexpected.  In reality, I often come back home having worn about half of what I had packed.  And I have used but a handful of the products and materials I have brought.  I return home with new aches and pains from dragging all my “preparations” through airports, staircases, and vehicles.

“Taking thought” requires a lot of time, energy, and resources.

I watch my desert family and see the simplicity of the amount of “stuff” in their homes.  For my family there, one shopping bag per child holds most of their clothes.   All of their collective “products” could fit in a shoe box.  Life is far from simple in their refugee conditions, but what they wear and how they look is not high on the priority list.

Jesus had been addressing the practical needs and attitudes of His followers.  Many, many were beginning to follow Him.  They found Him exciting. . . different . . . authentic.  Curious, they wanted to hear what profound things He had to say.  But Jesus brought it down to a very practical level.  He addressed the common, everyday, practical activities and values of the people in that culture.  He laid it out in everyday language and everyday life.

But first, He lived it.

Jesus turned their values upside-down.

Jesus did not just talk about letting go of the values and “stuff” of the world He stepped into . . . He lived it.   Modeled it.  He shook it up, not only with His Words, but with His Life.  His ministry was face-to-face, heart-to-heart.  His example was purposeful.

Was it only for that time and place?   Or are His Words and Life for All Time . . . for us now?

Yes, He challenged heart values.  But those values show up in our everyday lives.

May we “take thought” for those things that mattered most to the One Whose Name we carry.