Commentaries:
Our focus should be toward the end result. He gives this encouragement and admonishment to motivate us to understand and live all of life in relation to where it ends. Will life end in the Kingdom of God or in the Lake of Fire? That is a choice that each person makes. Even in the everyday, mundane things, eating and drinking, going to work, getting along with others, and so on, God wants His people to relate those daily experiences to their goal, the Kingdom of God.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Guard the Truth!
In His Sermon on the Mount, our Savior gives us some basic but very helpful and necessary advice about living as Christians in this world. Nevertheless, we worry and fret and agonize. We are anxious and overly concerned. We are troubled and lose sleep. We make ourselves unhappy and apprehensive. We put limits on ourselves and hinder ourselves. We make ourselves sick and prematurely old. We allow our fears to put distance between us and other people.
In this vein, American General Douglas MacArthur wisely said, "Worry, doubt, fear and despair are the enemies which slowly bring us down to the ground and turn us to dust before we die." Dutch World War II survivor Corrie Ten Boom echoes this: "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."
These are just some of the results of worry. Seeing them, we would do well to destroy worry from our lives! If it were possible, we would be much better off free of all anxiety. In fact, it can even be seen as a sin, something we need to repent of because, as Romans 14:23 says, ". . . whatever is not from faith is sin." Our anxieties reveal that we do not trust God's providence and care as much as we should.
Following are three effects of worry and the destructiveness that comes with it.
The first is that worry becomes a barrier. Fear, timidity, and anxiety cause many to limit their hopes, goals, plans, and efforts, forming an obstruction to achievement. In other words, to change the metaphor, people's worries handcuff them, keeping them from acting or progressing, even when it is clear that it is good and in their own best interest to do so.
Solomon depicts this in Proverbs 26:13: "The lazy man says, 'There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!'" What are the odds that a man-eating predator would be lurking out one's front door? Such people imagine hazards and dangers that are not realistic, and so they cannot venture out into the main street of life. They cannot reach any real measure of success in life because their fears imprison them within the small and limited space where they feel safe.
A better approach would be to follow the advice of American automobile magnate Henry Ford: "I believe God is managing affairs and that He doesn't need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe everything will work out for the best in the end. So what is there to worry about?"
The second effect is that worry is a divider. Imagining the worst of people and situations separates and alienates others. Worrying about how someone else lives his life, how he does things, the way he thinks, and what he believes is a great destroyer of unity. Seen in this dim light, others become different and alien, people to avoid. Fears like this destroy trust.
Notice God's exhortation in Zechariah 8:17 (The Amplified Bible): "And let none of you think or imagine or devise evil or injury in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the LORD." When we think evil of neighbors and brethren, it breeds suspicion and fear. Instead, as He advises in verse 16, we should "speak every man the truth with his neighbor; render the truth and pronounce the judgment or verdict that makes for peace."
Even if there are differences—and we can be certain that there are—they are probably not within our abilities or authority to change. The Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus agrees, writing, "There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will." Why dwell on things that we cannot change? It will only result in an ulcer—or worse!
The third effect, the worst of all, is that worry becomes a false god. Here, the culprit is self-will! Worry comes from wanting our will done: the will to survive, to win, to be well thought of, to be free from hunger and pain, etc. Those things are our will! They may be God's will, too, but He is not limited by us. While we know intellectually that His will supersedes our own, our worries and fears demonstrate that we are still trying to place our own will before His.
When we think we need something, we want it now and on our terms. But we know from experience that not everything works out as we would like, so we fear that our desires will not be realized according to the parameters we have set. If we allow worry to take hold, we begin to desire our will done rather than God's. In this way, in elevating our will above His, we set ourselves up as a false god.
In these situations, we fail to remember that God's will is perfect at all times and that He always knows and does what is best for us and for all. His will is far more desirable than ours! In fact, we do not even know what is good. Yet, we still try to impose our will more than we should.
British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli saw anxiety as an idol, describing its effects: "Worry is a god, invisible but omnipotent. It steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse; it takes away the appetite, and turns the hair gray." Worry is a false god that does nobody any good.
Therefore, we must concede that we must eliminate worry, fears, and anxieties from our lives. We need to relax our grip on our will and worries. They are, in a word, idolatry! With all of our hearts, we need to leave our worries and cares at God's feet (I Peter 5:7). We need to desire His will to be done in everything (Matthew 6:10) and in His perfect timeliness (Ecclesiastes 3:11). If we do, we will enjoy, not only our hearts desire, but also great peace.
Dan Elmore
Are You a Worrywart?
What was the first of the Seven Laws of Success? Set the right goal! Jesus clearly established the highest-priority goal for His disciples in this verse. He did this because He knows that the main goal, our highest priority, determines the preparations, efforts, and zeal for reaching it.
Suppose someone offered us a tremendous sum of money, perhaps billions of dollars, but the exact amount would be determined by how well we could learn to speak German in two month's time. We would embark on the most intense crash-course program of learning in our life! We would study from morning to night, burn the midnight oil, listen to language tapes, carry flash cards wherever we went, and seek out fluent German-speakers so we could practice with them.
During those two months, no one could drag us near a time-wasting television program. We would probably allow nothing to interfere other than necessary physical activities to sustain life itself. All for money!
Notice what Jesus says earlier in Matthew 6:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (verses 19-21)
Consider these scriptures in the context of what Jesus says in verse 33. Our hearts are in the things to which we devote ourselves, the things we spend our time pursuing. He is helping us prioritize by stating and illustrating principles that will help us make right choices in managing time.
Every day another 24 hours or 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds is credited to our account, and we have to spend them. Whether we are a billionaire or a dirt farmer, except for those who die that day, all have the same amount of time. Jesus says how we spend it shows where our heart is.
Of course, Bible Study and prayer are very high priority activities. But Satan also knows this! He also knows it would be very difficult to change our minds regarding their value if he confronted us directly. So he makes use of subtle, indirect approaches, and all too often he succeeds in diverting our attention from these high priority concerns.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Simplify Your Life!
Here the term righteousness has the sense of seeking all of God's spiritual blessings, favor, image, and rewards. We see in this verse not only a broad New Testament application of the term but also, more importantly, its priority to life. This dovetails perfectly with the hunger-and-thirst metaphor in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:6). It is not enough to ambitiously yearn to accomplish. According to Jesus, God's Kingdom and His righteousness are the very top priorities in all of life. Seeking God's righteousness is that important.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part Four: Hungering and Thirsting After Righteousness
What do we actually do to "seek first the Kingdom of God"? How do we in our daily actions put God first? How do we take Christ's abstract statement and turn it into concrete steps that we can employ in our lives? One answer is Luke 21:36. Seeking God—is the solution to all our problems. Luke 21:36 gives us the first step in implementing that solution—praying always. This is a foundation on which to build eternal life.
By being in conscious and constant communication, we are acknowledging God. We are bringing Him into the picture, obeying Matthew 6:33 by seeking Him first. When we do that, we create the opportunity to put some interesting dynamics into action that will facilitate overcoming.
Could we have any better companion than God? With no other could we possibly find better fellowship. God designed prayer to be an act by a free-moral agent who consciously chooses to be with Him to develop their relationship. When we pray, we acknowledge that we are in the presence of God, giving Him the opportunity to rub off on us, like iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17).
When person A rubs off on person B, it implies that B becomes a little more like A—he begins to take on the other's characteristics. The same holds true with the relationship between God and us. Who has the easier time dealing with temptation—God or us? Of course, God does (James 1:13)! It follows, then, that if the more God rubs off on us, the more we become like Him—the more successful our battle against temptation becomes. The more God rubs off on us, the more the battle becomes God's, not ours.
To have the right kind of fellowship and relationship with God, we have to be aware of the reality that we are always in His presence; He is "a God near at hand" (Jeremiah 23:23). Because God has promised never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), and since we are the Temple where His Spirit dwells (I Corinthians 3:16), God is constantly with us. For His children, the question is never whether He is present, but whether we acknowledge His presence. Praying always accomplishes this.
If being in the presence of a friend of fine character improves us on a human level (Proverbs 13:20), how much more true is this when we are in the presence of God Himself, the very definition of character and wisdom? That is how He can rub off on us: We are with Him, in His fellowship, in His presence, through prayer. When it comes to His children, He is never way off somewhere, if we would but acknowledge this fact.
God designed human beings to adapt to their environment. Before conversion, this world and its influences were molding us into an anti-God form. Acknowledging God's presence is the antidote that counteracts the influence under which we have lived since birth.
God's calling is an invitation to fellowship with Him, and getting to know Him is our salvation (John 17:3). If this is so, then the means—prayer—is a vital part of the foundation on which we need to build. That is the message of Luke 21:36. Praying always leads to overcoming, and both will lead to an escape from God's wrath and fellowship with Christ on into God's Kingdom.
Notice another illustration of the power of presence. What happens to us when we are around people who are pessimistic, angry, fearful, whining? Compare that to our reaction when around those who are positive and enthusiastic, facing life with gentle humor, determination, and energy. The former can quickly drain and depress us, while the latter can energize and enthuse us. In these situations, a literal transference of a spiritual attitude takes place. However, as we increase our physical distance from either of these examples, their power to influence erodes.
What happens on the human plane is no different from what happens spiritually. The spirit—good or bad—of people radiates out from them. It can affect, even change our spirit. Likewise, Satan's spirit permeates our environment, influencing us unless we choose to counteract it.
That choice is praying at every opportunity, willingly submitting ourselves to the persuasion of the most positive, righteous, and unchanging attitudes that exist in the entire universe! This is why after prayer, after spending time in the presence of God, people can feel peace, joy, or confidence. On the other hand, they can also feel humbled and chastened because God has led them to remorse and repentance. Prayer changes things—us.
Pat Higgins
Praying Always (Part Four)
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 6:33:
Psalm 37:1-40
Matthew 6:11