Do Not Worry About Your Life

When you preach through, or when I preach through a book, I always have to figure out where I'm going to divide things and how big of a bite are we going to take. And I divided our text. This text comes right after Jesus telling a parable about the rich man. You remember last week where the guy speaks up, Jesus is teaching, and he speaks up and he says, Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. And Jesus says, Who made me a judge and an arbiter over you? And then he warns them and says, Be aware and be on your guard against every form of evil. For even when a man's life is full of possessions, that's not what his life consists of. And then he tells the parable of the rich man who had very productive land and gets a ton of surplus of food. And he reasons with himself, what should I do with my surplus? And his answer is, I'm going to tear down my barns and I'm going to build bigger barns. And then I'll have food for years to come so I can eat and drink and be merry. And at the end of that parable,

That man is described as a fool. You fool. Who's going to take care of, who's going to inherit what you've prepared? There's no benefit in us being rich toward God, or rich in this world and yet poor toward God. That's how this rich man is described. And so last week we studied greed. And that this man was, that was one of the forms of greed, is that men who, you know, those who have a surplus want to keep it all for themselves. And store up for themselves for the future. And that man's not set forward as an example to us of how we ought to conduct our affairs as Christians. And so Jesus is responding first to the man who speaks up and then to the crowds. He says all this stuff to the crowds. He tells them the parable. And then he turns to his disciples. We come to this text. And this is him continuing to speak about this man and about where his treasure is and where his heart is and what it means to be poor or rich toward God.

And so he turns to his disciples. And there's something I want us to note about him turning to his disciples. We should pay attention to what he says to different people. What did he say to the man who says, my brother's not being fair. He says, who made me a judge and an arbiter of you? And he moves on. He doesn't say anything more. He doesn't teach him. He corrects him and he says, that's not what I'm here to do. And then he moves on to the crowds. And there's these little things in scripture that we ought to pay attention to. Who is the audience? Who's being spoken to? And how are they spoken to? So that man is answered briefly, to the point. That's not what I came to do. Then he turns to the crowd. And how does he speak to the crowd? He warns them. And he says, be on your guard against greed. There was a rich man and it didn't end well for him. He was greedy. And now he turns to his disciples.

And if you were listening to how he was speaking to his disciples, there is an element of warning in there. It cuts when he says, you men of little faith. It hurts. It's like, yeah, you're right. You're right. That's me. But I want you to see also the tenderness and the kindness of the way Jesus speaks to his disciples. He turns to those who are closest to him. And he gives special instruction and special care and special attention to those who are closest. He explains himself further to them. What he says to them, he didn't say it to all of the crowds. He turns to those who are his closest companions and he instructs them further. And he's tender and merciful with them. He turns to his disciples and he teaches them. One of the things that we learn from just this little thing, and he said to his disciples, is that those who are close to him receive a greater benefit than those who are far off from him.

Those who make it their purpose to follow Jesus Christ, to stay close to him, to abide in his word, to study what he says and seek him to understand it by faith, they're going to be better off than those who sit afar off in judgment or in apathy towards what Jesus has to say. They will not both receive the same benefit or the same blessing. Those who draw near to Jesus, he will welcome. We want to be addressed. Not as the man who stands up and says it's not fair. We don't want that to be the distance and the way that Jesus relates to us. We don't also want to just be one of the crowds and have that we're just one of the many. We want to know God. We want Jesus Christ to be our brother. He's our brother. I don't have brothers, but I see how my sons talk to each other and they have a closeness and an intimacy and an understanding and a care for one another.

that they don't have for others, for the crowds, if you will, the other kids at the park. We ought to draw near to Jesus Christ and hear what he has to say, be in his inner circle. So what does he say to them, his disciples? He says, for this reason, and I'm stuck going, and immediately I go, what reason? For this reason, what's the reason? Well, the reason is, you remember, he's just told this parable. There's this rich man, and he's been greedy. What was the reason that Jesus was referring to? He's referring to the rich man who tore down his barns and he built bigger ones. And the question we have to ask is, why did the man tear down the barns that were sufficient and fine and build bigger ones? And Jesus says, for this reason, I say to you, do not worry about your life. What is he telling us about the rich man? What he's telling us is that that rich man was worried about his life. He was worried about his provision. He didn't trust that God would provide for him in the future.

that he would care for him. And so his response was, when I get a surplus, I need to store it up and I need to hold on to it and I need to keep it all for me because what will happen next year if God doesn't provide? You remember that when this man has this problem, the problem of surplus, he doesn't consult with the Lord, he doesn't pray. It says that he reasoned with himself. He reasoned with himself. Now what happens when we reason with ourselves? What happens when you take your own counsel? Things like that happen. foolishness, departure from God's way. That's what happens. This rich man cared about his life as it was in this earth. He cared about his comforts. He cared about his ease. And when he found a surplus, he thought only of himself. And what he failed to do was trust God. This man didn't trust that God was going to provide for him, and yet the...

The evidence of God's provision was overflowing his property. And yet he didn't acknowledge God. He greedily kept his stuff for himself because he was worried about what would happen in his future. And so Jesus says, for this reason, do not worry about your life as to what you will eat. Remember that the rich man said, now I have laid up provisions for many years to come. I will have food and everything that I need. And Jesus says, don't worry about your life as to what you will eat, nor your body as to what you will put on. Now, one of the misconceptions of this counsel, this instruction that Jesus gives us, do not worry about our life, is that we take away from that that our lives don't matter. Jesus is saying, don't worry about my life, and I'm not supposed to worry about what I eat, and I'm not supposed to worry about what I wear. And so actually what he's telling me is that my life and my clothing and my provision, that these things don't matter.

But that's not what Jesus is saying. He's not calling his disciples to be neglectful, to be negligent of themselves. He's not telling them not to worry about their life because their life is worthless. If that were the case, if their lives were truly worthless, they could only be worthless to us if they were worthless to God. If our disposition toward our own lives would be, it doesn't matter, Whether I have it or not, how I live or not, it just doesn't matter. We can only come to that conclusion if we believe that that's God's disposition towards us and towards our lives. And that's not what Jesus is saying. Jesus goes on after that at length, demonstrating God's love and his care for his children. We're going to come back to that in a moment, but I want to talk a little bit about food and clothing. Food and clothing are the necessities of life. There are lots of things we have.

There are lots of things that we have at levels that far exceed what we need. But food and shelter, food and covering, these are the essentials of life. Even Paul acknowledges this in 1 Timothy 6. We read this. Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out either. If we have food and covering, With these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and to destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith.

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. So what is Paul saying here? Well, at a very basic level, he's saying with food and shelter, we shall be content. But if you know about Paul's life, you know there were many times he went without those very things. And so Jesus isn't saying, as long as you have food and shelter, you can worry about those things but nothing else. He says, no, these are the most essential things of your life. You need food, you need shelter, you need covering, you need clothing. Don't worry about them. These are not what life consists of. And in 1 Timothy 6, when Paul is going on and he's describing those who strive after wealth, those who want ease and want...

The good things of this world, he says that they fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge them into ruin and destruction. Is this not the rich man in the parable that Jesus has just got done talking about? Who wanted something in this world, wanted comfort, wanted ease, wanted what his flesh desired and he went after it. And was he not plunged into ruin and destruction because of his pursuit? He was a greedy man who worried that God would not provide for him. Paul says, we brought nothing into this world, we can take nothing out. This is the same thing that Job says. The desire for riches and money lead us to destruction, but that's not what we're to pursue. Our end is not to be destruction. We're not to go, well, I'm not supposed to worry about my life, so if it gets destroyed, it gets destroyed, and that's okay. That's not what we're to do. Paul tells Timothy here, he says, you, man of God, pursue righteousness.

And godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. You fight the good fight of faith. Godliness is a great means for gain when it's accompanied with contentment. Contentment in this world. And what does it mean to be content in this world, but to be content with things that aren't as they should be? That's what it means to be content in this world, is to be willing to live in the construction zone. To live before things are fulfilled, before things are done, before they're fleshed out, before they're fattened up. It's to live with the burdens of this world, the sins that we have, the trials that we face, the persecutions that come our way. And we say, I can't live with contentment until I have those things. But even if you have all those things, that's not what life consists of. You could have all of those things. You could have everything that you desire in this world and yet still be poor toward God. So we're not supposed to be like the rich man in Jesus' parable who didn't trust God.

who was greedy and stored up his treasure on earth to the eternal harm of his soul. We could go through all kinds of areas in our lives where we talk about, what does contentment look like at work? What does contentment look like in your marriage? What does contentment look like with your finances? What does contentment look like with your children? And we always say, there's this threshold, there's this line. Our flesh says, when we get here, Contentment, that's where contentment's at. It's at mile marker just down the road. And I'm pursuing it, and I'm going after it, and that's where I'll get contentment when I get there. And yet, isn't all of the stuff I just mentioned, our finances, our marriages, our children, our work, all of those things are functions. As we participate in them right now, they're functions of this world. We'll have work in heaven. We won't have marriage. Some of those things we'll carry over, and some of them won't.

But they'll be changed and they'll be different and they won't be hindered by sin anymore. And so do we look forward to the time when that will be the case or do we get caught up and sucked in and pulled into the here and now of what goes on in our lives? What do we pursue? When we get an abundance of something, what do we do with it? Do we store our treasure up here on earth or do we store our treasure up in heaven? This greedy man, this rich man, This worried man, in the parable, his life was consumed by the cares of this world. And it's such a hard thing to talk about, because how do you know when you're not consumed? Are you consumed with the things of this world? Yes. How consumed? How given to them are you? How much do you love the things of the world? I don't know, a lot. Should you be? No, I shouldn't be.

You know that you shouldn't love the stuff of the world. You shouldn't love the things of the world. You shouldn't put your hope in these things. And yet, all of these areas are the places that God's given us to honor Him. Our marriage, our children, our finances, our work. All of us have these sorts of things going on in our lives. These are the places where we're supposed to glorify God, and yet these aren't the things we're supposed to love above heaven. The outcome of these things is not supposed to supersede the condition or the care or the attention that we give to our own souls. And there's this little part in our heart that says, why do those things have to be set at odds? Why can't I have those things and be rich toward God? Part of the answer is because we're weak and because we easily go after the things that we can see and touch and taste and feel. They're tangible. Those are the things we're going to give our energy to. And yet these aren't the things that make up our lives. These aren't the things that indicate

Our love for God. Our care for God. Our interest in Him. So we're not to worry about our lives. We're not to worry about our clothing. We're not to worry about our food. We're not to worry about our finances or our health. Which is not to say you should be neglectful of those things and that you should just drive the car with the oil leak until the engine seizes up. If you have a car with an oil leak, what should you do? Put oil... Well, yes, fix it. Hopefully fix it. But if you haven't fixed it yet, you should put oil in the engine, right? You should keep it running. That's the difference between you and me. So we're not to worry about our lives. And then Jesus goes on and he says to them, he speaks to them of the ravens, of the birds of the sky and of the lilies. And are these important things? Are birds important things and are flowers important things? To us, are they important?

No, they're not. You know, one of the things I have to teach my kids when, you know, if they want to shoot a pellet gun is that you can't just, it's not okay, it's not alright with me for you to just shoot birds for the fun of it. They're not your target. You don't get to just kill them for fun. Why? Because I have a special soft spot for animal love in my heart? No. Because they're part of God's creation and our work is to cultivate and to rule over and to subdue, not to destroy. So when my kids last year decided to kill a snake in our backyard, or in our woods behind our house where they weren't supposed to be, the rule in my house is, if you shoot it, you eat it. And they knew that. And so you know what they did with it? No. They buried it. They tried to hide it. Well, mom tells me, the boys killed the snake, bludgeoned it to death with a sharp stick, and then they buried it.

And you know what we did at 9 o'clock at night? I didn't make him eat it. But we went out and we dug it up. And we laid it out on the play set. And they were shaking. Weren't you shaking? You were terrified. Crying. He was terrified I was going to make him eat it. And his mother was terrified I was going to make him eat it. And I told them, this is your one warning. If you do this again, if you destroy life, For fun. You'll eat it. Why? Because those things are insignificant to us, but they're not insignificant to God. Those birds that live in the sky that we shoot for fun and throw rocks at and chase and do all this stuff, those things are important to God. But to us, they're small and insignificant. If the birds don't eat, we say, well, the birds don't eat.

And if the drought or the frost get the flowers, we say, well, we'll just plant new ones. And yet those things are valuable to the Lord. They're important to Him. Those of you who have small kids, you know, you ever have them come up to you when you're always busy, and then they come up to you with this thing. It's three Legos stuck together. Or it's something really small and insignificant. You know, they bring you their picture that they drew of you don't know what. But they bring it to you. And you have the opportunity to determine whether that's important or not right then. And the temptation is to go, that's not important, I don't have time for that right now, show that to me later, oh yeah, yeah, that's cool, okay. But if you don't do that, and you talk to your child and go, what is that?

They'll go on and on and they'll talk to you about that little thing that they've made and how it's cool and how it flies and how it has wings that shoot guns and flap and go on the water and everything else. This was this week for me. One of my sons came up to me with this little tiny Lego guy with two things in his hand. And he went on for a few minutes explaining to me all of the cool things, all of the care that he had for this little insignificant thing. It was little and insignificant to me, but not to him. And what we see in those sorts of circumstances is we see the sort of care that God has for even the most insignificant things in his creation. He delights in the birds that he's mated, and he delights in the flowers that he makes.

And those flowers, he tells us, they don't toil and they don't spin. What he's saying is they don't work. That rich man, he worked or he paid somebody to work, to plow that field and plant that seed and harvest it. They toiled and they spun and they did all that work. Those lilies, they didn't do that. The birds, they don't have barns to store food up in, do they? And yet God provides for those birds. And he created those lilies knowing. That one day they were going to be there and the next day they were going to be cut and thrown in the furnace. And he created them with beauty and intention and care. Those small little things. Now how in the world can we read those words and see the intimate care that God has for the smallest parts of his creation and then think that when he says to us not to worry about our lives, that we don't matter. That whether we live or whether we die or whether we...

have the things that we need, how can we believe that it's insignificant to him? What a monstrous thought. That the God who cares for the birds of the sky and the flowers of the field that are here today and gone tomorrow would have a lower view of us. That we would be of less value. In creation, when he created man and woman, up to that point, at the end of each day, he said, it is good, it is good, it is good. He looks over his creation and it is good. And on the day when he made man and woman, he sat back and he looked and he said, it is very good. It is very good. Man bears the image of God. We are the pinnacle of creation. That's why we're more important than animals. It's that simple. We're more important than animals because God made us more important than animals. Because he invested us with his image. That's what makes us more valuable. That's what gives life value.

That's why it's okay to take the life of an animal for food. And it's not okay to kill a person. God in heaven is our Father and He delights. He loves to care for and to provide for His children. It gives Him joy. He does it because He wants to and He does it because He likes to. So do not worry about your life, your food or your clothing. Not because it's worthless, but because there's a God in heaven who made you and who cares for you, who knows better what you need than you know, and who delights to give it to you. That's why you're not to worry about your life or the things that it consists of. Because God knows you need these things. He knows what we seek. Jesus goes on and he says, Don't seek the things that the nations seek. God knows that you need them. In verse 30, For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek his kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. What do we seek instead of his kingdom? Everything. I mean, it's the flavor of the day. I mean, we're up forever. Our hearts are up forever looking for something to go after. As I was becoming a Christian, and Vanessa and I,

were broken up. I received counsel. I'm asking, well, what am I supposed to do with myself now that I don't have a girlfriend? Because that was really important to me and that's what I was seeking. And then when that was gone, I go, well, what am I supposed to do? And so a godly, wise pastor said to me, he says, you know what I want you to do? I want you to go on the internet and I want you to look up all of the verses in the New Testament that have the word seek in them. And I want you to memorize them. And so I went through, and I don't remember how many there were, 30, 50, I don't remember. And I went through and sort of called out the ones that had to do about seeking God's kingdom. And this was one of them. Actually, it was in Matthew 6.33 where this is reiterated. And what it meant to me, what I was being told was, you're seeking things that aren't going to satisfy you. You're seeking things that don't last.

I want you to go to the scripture and I want you to find what you're supposed to seek and I want you to seek that. You don't need to seek marriage because you're not dating anyone. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. That's what Matthew 6.33 says. And this here is Luke's account of it. Seek his kingdom and all these things will be added to you. Seek the things of God. Seek his kingdom. Seek the furtherment of his gospel in this world. Seek holiness. What Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6. But you, you man of God, pursue righteousness and gentleness and perseverance and faith and love. Fight the good fight of faith and take hold of that which was promised to you, eternal life, and what you made a good profession of in the presence of many witnesses. That's what you're to pursue. That's what you're to go after. That's what's to be your priority.

Not the things of this world. Not even the most essential things of this world. Because God knows what you need and he will provide for you. He doesn't simply provide for us because he has to. Well, I made them and now I'm obligated to give to them. Which one of us thinks of our children that way? I guess I have to feed you. There you go. That's not fatherhood. A fatherhood is a privilege. It's a joy. Yes, it's a responsibility. But it's a blessing. And anyone who has it understands that. It's a good thing. A father delights to care for his children. He anticipates their needs. And he sees to it that they have the things they need. Because it's his joy to do it. Time and again, God demonstrates his love for us and his care for us. And we see that in our lives when we look at the past.

We see how he's cared for us. We see how he's sustained us. We see how we were at our end, running at full tilt, at capacity, couldn't handle more, and then more came. And the privilege and the joy of old age, one of them, is that you have perspective. You've seen God work in your own life and in the lives of others. You've got experience that takes the shine off of the things of this world. It's not as attractive anymore. Because you've seen that it doesn't satisfy. So what's our application? What are we supposed to learn from this text? We're not supposed to learn that our lives aren't important. We're supposed to learn that God cares for us. Because He's our Father. And He delights to. He gladly has chosen to give you the kingdom. The first application is verse 32. Do not be afraid. It's very simple. It has context. Do not be afraid.

Very similar to being told, don't worry about your life. Do not be afraid, little children. Don't be afraid, little flock. Your father knows what you need, and he'll give you what you need. So that's something for you to think about. But what I want you to realize is that fear takes on action. Worry looks like something. Can you tell when someone's worried? Yeah. How can you tell? Well, someone by their face. but more by their actions. You can tell what people are afraid of by the decisions they make. If we fear not having enough, what do we do? We hoard. That's what the rich man did. He hoarded. He was afraid he wouldn't have enough, so he hoarded. It's really very simple. We're really twisted, but we're not that complex. We worry about provision. All through Scripture, you see people worrying about God's provision for them. We're not exempt from that. We worry. What will happen next year?

The man who doesn't have and the man who has an abundance will worry about next year and what's going to happen next year and am I going to have enough next year. And I need to think about what I'm going to do right now in light of next year. Do not be afraid. Matthew Henry says, with regard to not being afraid, he says, for the banishing of inordinate cares, it is necessary that fears should be suppressed. And I went, I thought we were supposed to talk about our fears. I thought we were supposed to... understand our fears. I thought we were supposed to tease them out just as far as we could possibly tease them out so we understood them so well. Because then we would know how to fight against them. But Jesus doesn't say to do that. He says, do not be afraid. And Matthew Henry says, for the banishment of inordinate cares, to actually not be afraid, you have to suppress your fears. You can't give them voice. You can't live in a constant state of telling yourself and everyone else what you're afraid of.

It will not go well with you if that's what you do. Because your fears will grow. The shadows will get bigger. The roars will get louder. The cliffs will get steeper. Your fear will increase. The more attention you give to the things you're afraid of, the more worry, the worse it will seem. Matthew Henry goes on, he says, when we frighten ourselves with an apprehension of evil to come, something bad might happen in the future, we put ourselves upon the stretch of care how to avoid it. This is the rich man. I'm worried I won't have food next year. What am I going to do? I'm going to build bigger barns. When after all, perhaps, it is but a creature of our own imagination. Therefore, fear not, little flock, but hope to the end, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. It's a godly thing to not worry about tomorrow. And in many places, we're taught this, explicitly and implicitly. We're told, don't worry about tomorrow, for today has enough trouble of its own.

We're also told by Jesus when he's asked how to pray, just a little while before this, he teaches his disciples to pray for their daily bread, their daily provision, that they would acknowledge in their prayer life that they need God to provide for them each day, and that there's not something wrong with that system. Do not be afraid, little flock. God has chosen gladly to give us the kingdom. It's easy to lose sight of. It's easy to pay attention to. The hardships of life. They're real. To say this is not to say that there aren't hardships and difficulties and burdens to bear in our lives. There are. And some of them are very heavy. And yet Jesus tells us we're not to worry about our lives. We're not to live in fear. We're not to be afraid. The second application or the manifestation of that is that we're to store our treasure up in heaven. He tells them, sell.

Sell your possessions and give to charity. So if you're not afraid of the Lord not providing, if you trust that God will provide for you, then we should be able to observe that in our lives. In some measure. It's not perfect. Each one of us is weak. When he says, you men of little faith, and we say, yeah, that's us, that's me. I'm like Peter, I follow at a distance. I don't disbelieve so that I run away. But I only believe, I live a lot of my life like Peter following at a distance when Jesus was arrested. And we want to get to the point where that's not how we live. Where we've grown to trust God to provide for our needs and our cares because he loves us such that we're right in close with his will. So he tells us, if you're not going to store your treasure up in heaven, you actually have to do the opposite. I'm sorry, if you're not going to store your treasure up in earth, you have to do the opposite of the man who did.

The rich man stored his treasure up on earth, so he built big barns. And he kept all of his surplus. You, for your part, sell and give to charity. We're to sacrifice. We're to trust God. And then he tells them, he says, make for yourselves money belts which do not wear out. And it's like a play on words, because money belts wear out. And so he's telling them, I'm not talking about money belts in this world. I'm trying to get your eyes lifted from the things of this world. to the glory of God and what it will be, what will come when the construction's over and they turn over the hand over the keys and say, it's yours. Jesus went away to prepare a place for us and there's going to come a day when he comes back and it's time and we get to go into the finished product. We get to be the finished product. It'll be over. So we're to make money belts that don't wear out. Those are an unfailing treasure in heaven. No thief will be there. No moth will be there to destroy. Where your treasure is, your heart will be also. How do you get your heart?

To love the things of God. To pursue the things of God. To the extent that you know and are aware, you demonstrate that with the things that you have in this world. You demonstrate that with your money. You demonstrate that with your time. You demonstrate that in your marriages and in your workplace. And all the things that you worry about. By faith you go, this is not what I have to worry about. This is not what I have to be concerned about. This is not what my life has to revolve around. God is not honored and glorified when I fixate on this. God is honored and glorified when I trust Him, when I ask Him to provide for my needs, and I seek by faith to do His will. And I trust that He'll provide for me. If you do that work, your heart will become inclined towards it. Doing that work, pursuing righteousness and gentleness and perseverance and faith and love, obedience, is one of the ways, the primary way that God works in on our hearts. You know, we pray,

Lord, help me to love the things you love, to hate the things you hate, to pursue the things that you command. Make me like you, Father. The way we do that is by pursuing it, by going after it. We can't sit and wait until our hearts are all, you know, all the work is done. That process is how the work gets done. So it's a very sweet thing that Jesus says to his disciples here. Do not worry. Do not be afraid. Don't worry about your life, not the things of it. Store your treasure up in heaven. Demonstrate that in your life, that that's where your treasure is stored. Fear God, not man. What can man do to you? Mock you, scorn you, make fun of you? If it's really bad, kill you? Store your treasure up in heaven. Live in the construction zone. Swing your hammer. Drive your nails. Pursue the holiness that God set before you. And you'll find your treasure being stored in heaven and not here on earth. That's how God's glorified. He's glorified in the process of it.

If it was supposed to be as easy as flipping a switch, if that's how he would have received the most glory, then that's how he would have designed it to work. But that's not how he receives the most glory. He receives the most glory when his people trust him by faith and seek to obey him in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's when he's glorified. Let's pray. Father, it is a comfort to us to know that you care for us. You love us and that you provide for all of our needs. You know what we need. Father, we've turned away and struggled and pursued the things of this world, hoped for comfort and ease now to the neglect of eternity. Our eyes have been pulled down from heaven, Father, and have been filled with the things of this world. We ask that you be merciful to us and revealing yourself to us, showing us what you have us do here and now. Keep us from fearing the outcome or the consequence of that. Help us to seek you by faith each day.

seeking to do what's pleasing in your sight. Father, would you give us joy in this work? There's so much to be discouraged about, Father, and we think, and yet really there's so much to be thankful for. And we ask that you would help us to see these things, to grow in our understanding and our knowledge of you and our love for you and our obedience and fear of you. Father, we are your people and we do want to glorify you. And we ask that you would strengthen us to do just that, and that you give us faith to persevere till the end. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.