What, Me worry?

• Overspending (spend more than you make) because we are impatient and demanding and afraid our needs will not be met (highest consumer debt level ever)
• Afraid of what others will say or do so we do foolish things to cover up (Penn. Mom who drove her son’s 13-year old girlfriend to New York to get an abortion)
• Afraid of what the future holds or that it will never change so we despair in the present (suicide “Dr.” Kervokian assisted many patients who had no physical disease at all – healthy in body)

What can we do to keep from worrying about things?

Humans naturally worry things far beyond their control or influence.  This preoccupation with things really out of their control drives many aberrant behaviors.  One can worry himself or herself physically sick.  One can worry to the point of despair and depression.  One can worry to the exclusion of getting necessary work done.

But Jesus said: "Do not worry" (Matthew 6:25,28,31,34, 10:19; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11,22,26,29, 21:14, NIV)

Jesus spoke directly to the issue of worry.  Over a dozen times in the Bible, Jesus tells us "Do not worry," "Do not be afraid," and "Do not let your hearts be troubled."  He must have been quite serious about this since He repeated it so much.  To worry about things out of your control in the face of such clear biblical commands is to sin.

We do not have to worry because the LORD has things well in hand and can be trusted to meet our needs.

Scripture Passage:  Matthew 6:19-34

Main Thought: Because the LORD cares for you and provides for your every need, you can set aside your worries over past, present, and future events.
 

Outline:

1. An earthly treasure may last a lifetime but not an eternity.
2. A heavenly treasure lasts an eternity preserved by our Creator.
3. God has promised to provide for all your needs because you are precious to Him.
4. God really does care for you by meeting all your needs.

 
(19) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (20) But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21, NIV)

1. An earthly treasure may last a lifetime but not an eternity.

All these questions lead us to examine where we place our treasure.

Earthly treasure represents things that will not stand the test of time:
 

• We spend an inordinate amount of our time, talents, and energy which revolves around earthly things - ordering and handling orders, taking our children to soccer or dance, answering the many calls of telemarketers, always going back and forth to somewhere…
• When you have an asset with earthly value, you must constantly worry about preserving it for the future – whether it’s money, a house, or a swingset.

Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family Ministries puts this in perspective speaking about a swingset he bought for his children.  “Now they have their own swingset to play on in their own yard!” he thought.  After the better part of a day putting it together, he read the final instructions.  “Be sure to check each spring and each bolt on the swingset before each use.  If the springs unwind or the bolts become loose, the users of this equipment can be seriously injured.  The XYZ company assumes no liability for injury due to negligence in maintenance.”  Now he has a guilt complex on top of worrying about whether his children will be injured on this contraption unless he goes out each morning and checks every spring and bolt!  Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19, NIV).

You figure we will spend about 70 years on this earth and an eternity in … heaven or hell. How many of those “things” will be around for eternity?  How many of the things we do will even wind up in a history book?  If you treasure things with earthly value only that are here today but gone tomorrow … what’s the point?
 

(22) The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. (23) But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  (Matthew 6:22-23, NIV)

2. A heavenly treasure lasts an eternity preserved by our Creator.

• Good eyes are clear allowing light to come in – this means we are open to God’s calling and purposes, His truth, and His correction
• Bad eyes block the light – this means we ignore God’s truth and purposes and see life as my own possession to be lived my way.

You can choose a foundation for your life on light – God’s calling, purposes, truth.  Or you can choose a foundation of darkness – my self, my life, my busy-ness.  It cannot be “both-and” --  it must be “either-or.”

When you set your heart on things with eternal value, it affects your service. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money" (Matthew 6:24, NIV).
 

No one can serve two masters… (Matthew 6:24). Suppose you have two bosses and one says “Go!” and the other “Stay!” – one will be disappointed. Your devotion to God will be reflected in your service to Him.  If you are devoted to Him, if you love Him, you will willingly serve Him with the gifts and capabilities He gave you when you received His Son, Jesus Christ.

An eternal perspective gradually changes all aspects of your life. Your time and attention given to “doing your own thing” and maintaining and preserving “your stuff” will diminish and be replaced by activities which have heavenly or eternal value.

There was man in our neighborhood who washes his little Mercedes convertible every day – every day he washes his car!  Now I’m not against washing cars mind you, but you figure, he spends an hour a day so over the life of that car (15 years) he invests 228 days of his life for what?  A clean car that gets dirty the first time he drives it.

The priorities by which you make decisions will focus more on investments in people than in the stock market,  more on building character than building a bigger house,  more on knowing your Creator than knowing the news.  Making less time for worry will give you more time to reflect and pray.

The reward you earn for treasuring things with eternal value is an eternal reward.  Your reward from God will stand the test of time (1 Cor. 9:25). God has a number of crowns for you in Heaven.  These eternal, heavenly crowns are:
 

1. The people you love (Phil. 4:1, 1 Thess. 2:19)
2. Crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8)
3. Crown of life (James 1:12; Rev.2:10)
4. Crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4)

God has an incredible reward for you in heaven – so set your heart on things with eternal value.  Good news - the Bible says your reward is “kept in heaven for you!” (1 Peter 1:4, NIV) so you really don’t have to worry about it.

3. God has promised to provide for all your needs because you are precious to Him.

(25) “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (26) Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (27) Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

(28) “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. (29) Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

(31) So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ (32) For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (34)Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-34, NIV)

What is the difference between worry and concern?
 

• Worry is a negative response to a life event – produces fear, anxiety, despair, panic
• Concern is a positive response to a life event – prayer, trust, hope, seeking godly advice, do what you can and let God do the rest.

Jesus is not saying that food and clothes are unimportant – just that we should not let these things drive our behavior and dominate our thoughts.  Life is more important than that.

The believer in the LORD Jesus Christ has a tremendous advantage over the unbelievers in the world.  Normally we think the world exists only to take advantage of us – and surely this does happen.  But Believers have a promise that if we trust in the LORD Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin (His kingdom) and follow Him (His righteousness) He will provide for our needs. This frees the believer from worrying about the basic necessities of life that dominate the time, attention, and energy of the unbelievers – pursuit of food, clothing, shelter, security.

Did God give us this promise because we deserve it? NO!  But child of God He cares for you because you are His most precious possession!  If He cares for the sparrow and the grass enough to provide for all their needs, then He will surely care for you! “Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matt. 6:26b, NIV).

This is the right kind of self-esteem that each of us needs – you are special because the Creator God made you in His image and gave the life of His Son to redeem you from your sins and make you holy like Himself.  Know who you are (human and sinful), know who God is (Creator of all), know that God loves you anyway (Jesus on the cross), know that your relationship is secure (now you are a new creation sealed by the Holy Spirit forever).

...God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. (Rom. 4:17, NIV)

4. God really does care for you by meeting all your needs.

So set aside your worries and face life with the confidence of knowing the One who sees the end from the beginning.

Winston Churchill once reflected, “When I look back on my worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life – most of which never happened.

The believer in the LORD Jesus Christ has a absolutely certain future.  If your future is certain, and it is for the believer, then the future becomes that certainty we await patiently.  The present is lived in the light of God’s truth about the future – and the worries of the present simply become concerns to be taken up by our Creator.  Jesus said, “So do not worry saying, ‘what shall we eat?’ …(Matt. 6:31-34). What, Me Worry?