Our first promise today is found in Matthew 6: 25-34: “.. . Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; . . . Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap . . . yet your heavenly Father feedeth them . . And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies . . . they toil not, neither do they spin . . . Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. . . If God so clothe the grass of the field . . . which tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? Seek ye first the kingdom of God . . . and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself . .
In these verses we have one of the most wonderful promises in the entire Bible. First, Jesus tells His disciples not to be anxious about what they shall eat or drink, and calls their attention to the fowls of the air who do not sow or reap, yet the heavenly Father feeds them. In these days of soaring prices, some of us may be anxious at times about what we shall eat or drink. But the entire earth is the Lord’s, is it not, and He can provide for us what we are not able to provide for ourselves. Perhaps we may not always be able to buy everything we would LIKE to eat, but no doubt it is better from a health standpoint that we should not have some of these things. David said long ago: I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalms 37:25). So we can always be certain of receiving what we really need.
No doubt all of us have read the poem about the two little birds who were talking to each other about human beings and wondered why they fretted and and worried so (we cannot recall the exact words). Then one little bird said to the other: It must be that they have no Heavenly Father such as cares for you and me.” It is a wonder, isn’t it, that with all God’s precious promises in the Bible we should worry and be so anxious about the necessities of life when He has promised so many times and in so many ways to take care of us?
And why worry about our raiment when we are told to consider the lilies which neither toil nor spin, and yet they are clothed in such loveliness that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. And yet these lovely flowers bloom but for a time and then wither away and die. Jesus reminds us that if God so clothes the lilies that bloom today and are “cast in the oven” tomorrow, will He not much more clothe us, “0 ye of little faith?” Again, we may not be clothed in king’s raiment, but if we are “putting the kingdom of heaven first”, He will always provide suitable raiment, as well as food and drink.
He also tells us in verse 34 to take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow will take thought for itself. The author remembers reading an article in which the writer said that he had experienced many troubles, but most of them had never happened. What did he mean? He meant that he worried and fretted about what MIGHT happen in the future, when all he needed to do was to think about today and leave tomorrow in God’s hands. This does not mean, of course, that we should not take measures for our future security, but, having done all that we could, if adversity strikes, we are to trust Him to do the rest.
Our second promise is found in Matthew 10:29-31: “Are no two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye arc of more value than many sparrows.
Here Jesus is telling us that not a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’s notice, and that we are of much more value than many sparrows. If God loves the little sparrow that much, how much more do you think He loves His own children? He emphasizes this by informing us that the very hairs of our heads are all numbered. just think! The hairs of every saint’s head are numbered! How close He must be to us, and how much indeed He must love us! Knowing all this, how can we doubt that He will take care of us any time, anywhere?
The third promise is found in Matthew 28:20: “Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age.“
Here is the same promise again in different words. Jesus knows our weaknesses, and realizes that we need to be told over and over again that He cares for us, not just part of the time, but ALWAYS. That means wherever we are, in the most dangerous places, night and day. He is on duty so to speak, not eight hours only, but twenty-four hours, all the time, ALWAYS, even to the end of the age. That means He will be with us always until He comes again. But should our little personal world end before He comes, He will be with us to the very last, and even then we will not be forgotten, for we will be held in His Book of Remembrance until the resurrection day.
The fourth promise is found in John 14:23: “. . . If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
In these verses we learn that if we love Jesus and keep His words that the Father Himself will love us, and they ( Jesus and the Father) will come and make their abode with us. If a person comes to live with us, He is close to us, is he not? We will know much more about him than other people will, and he will know much more about us. God and Jesus already know all about us, but Jesus and the Father will dwell with us so that we may know much more about them, feel their near presence, and be comforted thereby. The author read about a family who always placed a chair at the head of the table for Jesus, and who always talked and acted as if He were actually there, which in a sense He was. If we always lived every moment as if Christ were really with us (which He is in spirit) how different our lives would be! As we seek to become closer to Him, He will become closer to us, a member of our family, and our home will become a place hallowed by His presence and love.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One