Worry Wart

"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. 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?" (Mt 6:24-25 NIV))

To worry about what we are going to eat, drink, or wear is to make Money the one we serve, the object of our worship. We will serve it because through it we are provided with food, drink, remnant and housing. We have to be careful not to get caught up in the needful things of this life, having a negative effect upon our spiritual lives. Mark 4:18-19 says “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (NIV)

• What we worry about becomes the center, or center cluster, of our lives.

• Worry makes its subject the focus of our attention and our lives.

• Our priorities becomes rooted in and identified with the object of our worship .. er .. worry.

• Worry captures our thoughts and drives our emotions.

• Worry strangles the root of Life found in the Word of God.

• Worry causes the Word to be fruitless in our lives.

• Worry stagnates our spiritual life.

• Worry impedes our spiritual growth.

Worry causes us to view the future through “eyes of fear“. God has told us in Is 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' (NASB)

God’s remedy for this kind of worry is found in Mt 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (KJV). We have to re-focus and re-prioritize. We are called to be citizens of the Kingdom of God and are now to live our lives guided not by the basic principles of the world, but by the underlying principles of God’s Kingdom. This principle is God‘s the King, put Him first, make His purposes your priorities, do things His way, and as you trust Him by doing these things, He will take care of you and yours.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:1-3 NIV)