Consider The Lilies

Good Morning!

I have some friends who have just returned to the United States after serving as missionaries in Romania. They came home with no job – no promise of a job – no place to stay (other than with Mom and Dad). Coming home this way could be quite discouraging. But Friday morning they packed a U-Haul with their belongings and headed to Nashville where a church has provided them a home rent free until next May. They will have a car that they have to purchase – but no payments until they get on their feet. They still don’t have any job prospects – but here’s the thing – they have a heavenly Father that cares about them. I think they are in good hands.

By the way, they aren’t the first missionaries to return and have to face remaking their lives. I have been praying for a couple for several years … and they still are being taken care of every day.

Luke 12:22-34 (English Standard Version)
Do Not Be Anxious
22And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 26If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,[b] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, seek his[c] kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
32 "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Footnotes:
a. Luke 12:25 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
b. Luke 12:27 Some manuscripts Consider the lilies; they neither spin nor weave
c. Luke 12:31 Some manuscripts God’s

Jesus was not independently wealthy – and neither were most of His disciples. Imagine giving up your everyday occupation to follow Jesus. Scary, isn’t it? Jesus tells His disciples to not worry – and points out how God provides for everything we see. And when you think about it, if we were willing to just trust God – and not worry about what tomorrow brings, we could have the same simple life that the plants and animals enjoy. No – we want too much too fast – and that gets us into trouble. We seek after the things that are put before us – rather than after the things God places in our path.

Jesus has a very simple outlook for us – trust God. Easy to say – hard to do – but God willing (and He does) we can learn to trust Him.

I can’t read this section of Scripture without thinking of my good friend Leon Joiner. One of his signature songs at church was “Consider the Lilies”. He and his wife, Joyce, were mainstays at Valley Hill Baptist church in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Time has taken its toll on Mr. Joiner – and Joyce is now in the arms of Jesus. My mind is flooded with good memories of these two saints who served their Lord.

I really am grateful for friends like you who take the time to read my daily ramblings. I am still looking for your favorite songs or hymns. Another good one is “In His Presence” by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Youtube it.

Have a blessed day.


Agape’

Mr. Jim