MEMORIZATION

We began this week's Workout with a recitation of Matthew 6:22-29, after which we spent some time reflecting and discussing the passage together.

The obvious truth is that you cannot serve both God and wealth.
- In a master and slave relationship, a slave can only have and serve one master.
For those who do not have to worry about basic provisions, such as food or clothing, what kinds of things could tempt us to worry?
- Finding and keeping a job
- Stability of the economy, and by extension, our own financial stability
- Uncertainty in retirement
- Personal appearance, other peoples' opinions, and social pressures
- Natural disasters
The Lord tells us not to worry. Why?
- God provides what we need, and He cares for us.
- God cares for things in nature, such as animals and plants. If this is true, then how much more will He care for us who are made in His image?
In Matthew 6:23, Jesus says that "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" What does He mean?
- The best way to understand this is that one organ can impact the whole body. By this, we can understand that whom we serve can impact our whole lives. Specifically, what we do with money and whether we deal anxiously about money can impact and take over our whole lives.
- How terrible and tragic is the situation where the light in us is not really light, but darkness!
Sometimes we face occasions where we can't fully understand a hardship that someone is experiencing. We can try and imagine what it might be like to share in their hardship, but the reality is that many times we can never completely empathize. What do we do when we try to sympathize with someone who is going through something that we have never experienced before?
- We should try and minister to people the best way we can with what the Lord has provided us.
- Sometimes the best and only thing we can do is "weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15).
- We should try to show great generosity to others. Think of how we can be channels of blessing in order to provide for someone in their time of need. We could very well be the specific means of how God provides for and blesses a certain individual. We must be careful not to give ourselves too much credit, though, as if we are so great or worthy.
Verses 25-29 deal with trusting God in daily sustenance and trust, rather than whether we can amass enormous amounts of wealth in this world to act as our security. Also, this truth applies not only to matters dealing with wealth, but also to what (or who) we trust in when it comes to all areas of provision in life.

Next week's passage for memorization is Matthew 6:30-34.

Jesus gives a negative command (do not worry) but contrasts it with a positive command (seek first His kingdom and His righteousness).
What is the kingdom?
- Heaven!
- For example, Jesus refers to heaven as a kingdom in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-5).
What is the righteousness?
- The practice of God's commands for righteousness
- Jesus refers to a reward for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ("Beatitude #4", Matthew 5:6)
- Jesus says in Matthew 5:20 that our righteousness must surpass that of the Scribes and the Pharisees.
- Indeed, the entire Sermon on the Mount is one long sermon telling us how to live according to God's righteousness!
We are to seek first His righteousness and trust in God before seeking or worrying about things in this life.
- The worries of this life can keep us from living in the Lord's righteousness.
Is there a specific definition or understanding for "worry"? Do we not worry at all, or does it speak to something more specific? For example, how do we separate the worry from the desire or fuel to work hard and get ourselves out of our situation of lack?
- Jesus is not saying that we should exclusively seek to be involved in spiritual activity. He also does not say that we don't need to work at all, or earn our own living. On the contrary, God's will for us is that we all work hard and eat the fruit of our labors (ref. 2 Thessalonians 3).
- We need to obey the Lord in all aspects and serve Him. When we do this, Jesus comforts us that we have no need to be anxious.
- We shouldn't let worry drive us; but what should drive us is a desire to obey, serve, and follow Him. When we do this, we can be confident that He will take care of us.
Sometimes one may fall into believing in a false understanding between trusting in the Lord and doing hard work.
- For example, it might be easy to think that "God will provide, so I will just not work and let His blessings come to me". This is unbiblical! Seeking His righteousness first includes working - it's not separate from that.
- Another motivation to work hard and earn is to share with others and help provide for them in their times of need (Ephesians 4:28).
It's good to plan for the future uncertainties, (e.g. buying life insurance), but ultimately we should realize that these plans can fail as they are not invulnerable or guaranteed. Ultimately, our trust and confidence must be in the Lord and His assurance that He will take care of us.
Be carefree, but not careless (for example, don't drive on the freeway without a seatbelt!). Do not test God.
Seek God's ordinary means of provision, trusting that God is the one who provides through those means.
- God is the one who has to orchestrate and sustain the order of things (i.e. economy, supply chain) in order for us to be able to work and buy and have our money be worth something to trade for. So even though we earn money and are able to buy things in an ordinary way, God is the one who orchestrates and enables all of these things extraordinarily "in the background". In other words, without God's sovereign care, even what we consider "ordinary things" would not be possible.

LEADING DEVOTIONS

Arthur was selected to lead the group in a short devotion.

Hymn # 393 - Take My Life and Let It Be
2 Timothy 2
- Proposition: Serve Christ faithfully.
  - Verse 3 tells us to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ. Although we live life on earth, we ought not to become entangled in everyday affairs and thereby neglect our duties to serve God faithfully. We ought to live our lives in service to him, being loyal, humble, and faithful to God.
  - Warning: we should not go AWOL by pursuing distractions that hinder us from our first order of service toward Him.
  - We must be faithful to serve God and follow His commands, as a good soldier in any army would. While we are on earth, we are not to leave our post, but rather we must fully commit ourselves to His mission and glory.