Luke 12:22-26 (NIV) Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
In contrast to the materialism and greed that typifies so many cultures, Jesus proposed an alternative: the way of the kingdom.
The typical defense of materialism, even among God’s people, is that we have to provide for ourselves food, clothing, and shelter, the necessities of life. And the more resources that we can gather, the easier it is to attain those things, and thus the more secure we will be. On the surface, this seems logical and reasonable. And so we excuse our chasing after worldly wealth under the auspices of simple security.
But Jesus wanted to refocus the discussion; to reframe it in kingdom terms. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. In fact, it is entirely possible to live a privileged, wealthy life, clothed in the finest clothes and eating an abundance of fine foods, and then end up in hell for all eternity. (Witness the rich man in Jesus’ parable in Luke 16:19-31!)
As an illustration, Jesus pointed to the ravens. They never pursue food and clothing, and they never fret about what will happen if they go out one day and not find any bugs to eat, or if they were to molt and new feathers didn’t grow back. They simply live, doing precisely what God designed them to do and to be, and going out every day expecting to find all that they need to eat provided for them. If they don’t find adequate bugs in location A, they simply head over to location B. The look diligently, knowing that God has already provided.
Jesus points out that God has promised to provide for His people. They don’t have to eat bugs or look under rocks. But God has ways of providing the food that is necessary each day for those who are diligently working in His kingdom. Worrying won’t add to the food supply, and amassing wealth won’t actually guarantee the future. So Jesus recommends not focusing on either one of those, but simply being about God’s business, and trusting Him to provide what is necessary each day, just as Jesus did.
Father, this is a good reminder. So many of us try to amass resources as a hedge against future problems, and then rely on those resources for our security. But that is relying on ourselves, on our own cleverness and resourcefulness, instead of simply relying on You and Your promises. Thank You, Lord, for all of those good promises, and for the fact that You have never broken a single one of them. Amen.