meditations for an everyday relationship with Jesus

Whom to fear

Matthew 10:28 “Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Jesus is telling us that our fears are misplaced if we fear only the things that can hurt the flesh. And … He isn’t telling us to fear the Devil or any other power or spirit, either. Jesus tells us to fear only God!

He tells us to fear God because God alone controls all things eternal. The soul will last forever in one of two places: heaven or hell. How does Jesus know this?

1.) Jesus is God. He knows everything.

2.) Jesus knows the weakness of the flesh. He was with God when we were created.

3.) Jesus knows He is going to the cross, and He knows the outcome. We also have two choices: we can analyze this and get distracted or we can take Jesus at His word. Take Jesus at His word!

Enough for us

Matthew 6:33-34 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

We all know that worry will not do us any earthly good. It will not make us taller, richer, smarter or better looking. Yet, we worry just the same. In fact, the very things we are told not to worry about (especially tomorrow) we tend to worry about even more.

Why is this? Because all of the things we tend to worry about have something in common: tomorrow. Tomorrow is when we will start a new diet, it is when we will finally quit using drugs, it is when we will see our investments finally paying off, etc.

But, Jesus says that we should focus on today and leave tomorrow to itself. Tomorrow also has troubles, just like today. Handling both the troubles of today and the troubles of tomorrow simply tends to be overwhelming. Jesus is giving us practical advice.

What isn’t Jesus saying? Tomorrow will be here before you know it!