Please understand something right from the get-go: the Sermon on the Mount is chock full of superior and riveting teaching by the Master Teacher. What I am going to highlight and focus on this morning will in no way suggest this is exhaustive. I’d like to highlight 3 passages from Matthew 6:
- 6:1-4. I would suggest this passage be summarized as such: do things for others, not for public notoriety or acclaim. If you give, give privately or anonymously. If you do, do it privately or anonymously. Avoid publicity if at all possible. When Jo and I were seniors in college I was serving as a youth pastor. One of the young ladies in the youth group came from a very poor family. She had no money for her senior pictures. Jo and I gave it anonymously and nothing gave me greater joy than to see her smile and tell me what someone did for her. It was worth it.
- 6:24. Don’t be a slave to money. Keep it all in perspective. Pursuing the almighty dollar will only bring heartache and personal turmoil. Besides, there is an emptiness which cannot be filled by all the money in the world. Rockefeller was correct when asked how much it took to make him happy. “Just a little bit more.”
- 6:33. The answer to the previous mentioned verse. Seek Him first. That may mean a lesser version of something. That may mean a “no.” But at the same time, trusting Him to provide makes my life richer and fuller.
Tomorrow (Lord willing) some thoughts from Matthew 7.
May everything we do reflect His glory and purpose. Thanks, Bill, for reminding us of who should always come first in this life.
Blessings!
You’re welcome Martha. I need that reminder daily.
It is interesting that the words of Jesus from Matthew are what we are studying in our summer neighborhood Bible study. So much plain and simple teaching for those of us who want to follow Jesus.
So much plain and simple for sure, Pam. People tend to want to make things so complicated.
Living a life pleasing to God, and keeping God first in our lives, really comes down to a short list of the way to live. Jesus spells it out perfectly in His sermon on the Mount. Doing things for God’s glory and purpose, will spill into all aspects of our lives when we apply Jesus’s principals from His sermon. Thanks for the reminder.
I think that sometimes we make things way too complicated! You state it very succinctly Gail. It comes down to applying His principles.