Ravens and Lilies
I'm sitting here amused. Only because I think this post will be rhetoric - not sure if anyone even visits anymore, but in the off-chance someone does, I hope this will be useful.Right now I'm also feeling semi-guilty. Whilst I have an exam on Tuesday (probably one of the hardest ones I've ever done!) I'm guilty to the extent that I should be studying. However I'm on my "lunch-break" so I guess I can let this one slide. I do realise though that whatever I don't do now I will have to do later - if there's time to! Shouldn't take any longer than 15 minutes though.
Wanted to share something from my daily devotion from yesterday, however I realised I won't actually be at Youth Group to share till...next year! I have work functions on the 14th and 21st December, then it's holidays for two weeks for Tim and Caleb.
I digress. I've been reading through Luke recently and yesterday's reading brought me to a section in Chapter 12 titled, "Do Not Worry."
22Then 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. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider 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! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
Do not worry Jesus says. And how hard it is for us to understand! I worry so much, every hour, every day! For some it can totally consume them, constantly checking their bank balances, their wardrobe and doing regular stocktakes on their possessions. I admit I'm sometimes guilty of these, but how comforting it is to know that mere creatures like ravens have been looked after by God? And surely, as Jesus points out that we are worth so much more to God than birds!
I found the next paragraph more visual which helped run the point home. I pictured lush grassland over rolling hills, dotted with bright lilies. And to think how beautiful each lily is, that doesn't require effort on their part to create their look. Once again, as if God wouldn't look after us if He's looked after flowers!
Anyway, the verses helped me to realise I should just chill out and that it's all good. That God loves us so much more than birds or flowers, plans to prosper and not harm us (Jer 29:11). But I think the passage speaks for itself.
posted by greggie @ 2:02 pm
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