NEVER SAY SUCH A THING!
TEXT:
"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?" (Matthew chapter 6 verse 31, King James Version).
Part of our commission as God's servants is to open the eyes of men, to turn them from darkness to light "and from the power of Satan unto God," (Acts chapter 26 verse 18);
and for this, we pray for the enabling grace, in Jesus name.
The Scripture reading for today is a very familiar one to us. But there's something particular about it that I want you to know. What we have been familiar with as regards this verse is the hopelessness of anxiety. If we know how helpless it is to be anxious, then why be anxious at all? On the other hand, if there's help for us, it follows that there's no need to be anxious. Experience shows that even if there's no help, it is equally useless to be anxious. This is the truth about anxiety and its futility as far the child of God is concerned.
In the Scripture reading for today, I believe that the primary focus of the Lord Jesus is on "saying" and not on "thought". We know that it's something impracticable that a man should not think about his material needs. After all, Jesus Himself at a point in time thought about getting money to pay the temple tax (Matthew chapter 17 verses 24 to 27). I believe that the Lord's admonition to us in this verse is that we shouldn't be preoccupied with worrying about our needs in life. He assures us that these needs will be met for us (Matthew chapter 6 verses 30 and 33).
There's another issue that is worth addressing here. In addition to not entertaining a constant thought about our material needs, another question is, at what point do we become anxious regarding our material needs?
According to our verse for the day, the way we take an anxious thought about something is by speaking it. A closer look at our verse for the day reveals that you graduate from having mere thoughts to becoming anxious the moment you vocalize your thoughts.
Jesus said "Therefore take no thought, saying"!
Truth is, as humans, we can't keep all kinds of thoughts from coming across our minds. Negative thoughts will come at times to our minds, but nevertheless, we reserve the right to reject them from becoming part of us. The only way they become part of you is when we say them. If you don't say it, it won't be yours. My advice is that as a Christian, learn not to give in to moments when you just feel like speaking forth your negative thoughts and emotions. Rather, acknowledge that such moments call for restraint and exercise of faith because we are in a spiritual battle in which what you say becomes what you get.
Times without number I have admonished that we take care what we say because you'll always have what you say (Mark chapter 11 verse 23). As God's child, learn to line up your words with those of God! Our words are powerful tools to either release God's power in our favor to defeat our enemy or they can become tools in the hand of the enemy with which to defeat us (Proverbs chapter 6 verse 2). Remember always that either life or death is in every word we speak (Proverbs chapter 18 verse 21). It depends on what you say. What you say determines what you see in return.
In the face of your life's needs, refuse to exercise anxiety or fear. Trust in the Lord always and be careful to let your words line up with His Word regarding your situation.
Your present situation may be a far cry from what God's Word is saying. Don't let that trouble you. Refuse to confess what you see, feel or fear; refuse to be anxious about anything but rather, keep believing and keep saying what God has said about you and soon, you'll testify, in Jesus name.
PRAYER:
I refuse to get anxious about my material needs, but rather, I line up with God's thoughts about me, in Jesus name.