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WEDNESDAY BIBLE STUDY

Playing God

Matthew 6
Do Not Worry
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. --Matthew 6:3

I had never thought of worry as a form of taking on God's responsibility. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that worry, in its naked form, comes close to doing just that. I thought of this after seeing a sign in a church foyer that read:

Do not feel totally, personally,

irrevocably responsible for

everything. That's My job. --God

This advice does not absolve us of all responsibility, however. The force of the statement lies in the words totally, personally, irrevocably, and everything. We often feel we must solve all our problems ourselves, and that unless we come up with the right solution all will be lost.

Of course, we must take responsibility for our own lives. Yet God wants us to rely on His guidance. When problems arise, our first duty is to bring them to Him in prayer. He may show us that we've created our own difficulty, and may reveal that we must make changes to resolve it. He'll grant forgiveness and give the strength to change. Or He'll assure us that we're doing all we can, and say, "Leave it with Me. Just do your next duty."

Only God has sufficient energy and wisdom to handle everything well. Worry will gradually lose its hold on our lives if we learn to stop playing God.
JESUS PAID IT ALL FOR US.
COME TO HIM TODAY AND LET HIM HELP YOU.

PRAYER
Lord, we thank You for the commission You have given us to share the Gospel with the world. Forgive us for trying to live by our own policies. Thank You that Your presence is always with us. As Your ambassadors, please help us to live under the authority of Your Son, Jesus, and to be worthy servants.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.

You have quite the assortment of pets living at your house. Does everybody get along?

They had better!

I am taking them flying with me!

I can get in a hissy fit in no time flat when they act up in my plane!

Mamma's pet right here, she loves to fly!

They will behave tonight Grandma's coming along to babysit!

The Kid's Father!