Reading your Bible for today August 21

August 21: Matthew 6:25-34

KJV Key Verse: Matthew 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Devotion:
How many times must Christ continue to tell us how much we can trust in Him before we start to believe it? The answer is different for each of us because it comes from our own wants or desires. I say wants and not needs because our wants drive us in the worldly society we live in. We look at things and we covet after them. That drives the way we act and the way we react. Our world becomes centred on the physical things of this world instead of being centred around God...

We don’t have to look very far to see the awesome beauty of the land we live in. Even in the most inhospitable deserts we find life, put there by God. We find flowers which are so delicate and beautiful we wonder at their creation. We see birds all around and yet they do not all have to be fed by human hands because God has given them the seeds of the land to live off. Wild animals all have a place in what we call the circle of nature, living off things that live off other things. Why then do we have the need to dress better than others or to spend more than others or to drive cars better than others? That answer has already been said – greed; we covet things.

How are we going to be able to focus on God when we spend all of our time focusing on the physical things surrounding us? How are we going to focus on God when our lives are taken up in material progressions which have no other reward than personal gratification at the time? None of this is going to help us to get to heaven and it will certainly not be coming with us when we die... There is no call for us all to live like cavemen but there is no call for us to live like kings either.

We need to find a balance in each of our lives where we can live a life which others may see as a good example to Christ. We should keep our focus on Him and not on our own personal gain. With our focus on Christ we will begin to see the needs of others around us and not just the need to satisfy our greed!

Points to Ponder:
Do you like doing things for others – what resources do you use?

How much do others see in you from Christ?