Matthew 6:25-34 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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If 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—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
2023 is the “Year of Alignment.” As we begin this new year, we’re going to explore what it means to live in alignment with God. When you hear the word, “alignment,” what do you think of? I think of getting my tires aligned. How do you know if your tires need an alignment? There are signs, right? Maybe your tire treads start to look uneven. Perhaps your vehicle starts pulling to the left or the right. Maybe a vibration shows up in your steering wheel. Those are signs that your car needs an alignment. In other words, there are signals that something needs addressed.
When I read Matthew’s words in chapter 6:25-34, I believe he is pointing out some signs that our lives need an alignment job. When our lives are misaligned, there are signs. When we are out of alignment with God there are indicators that serve to help us know something is wrong. Here in Matthew 6, we read that worry is a sign of misalignment.
Matthew says we shouldn’t worry about our lives. There isn’t anything productive that can be accomplished by worrying. There is a lot about this life that we cannot control. We can’t control the weather. We traveled to near Chicago for a family wedding that took place yesterday morning. Had the wedding been the previous weekend, we would have missed the wedding. It wouldn’t have been smart to travel that far from home in sub-zero temperatures. The way it worked out, we were able to go, but we weren’t in control of that.
We can’t control the traffic on our work commute. We can’t control how fast that bridge work will be done on I-64. We’re going to have to deal with some delays and frustrations. We can’t control what other people think about us. Obviously as believers, we try to live in a way that displays love and kindness, but not everyone will like us. It may have nothing to do with how we treat someone. It might just be the convictions that we live by that become off-putting to someone. We can’t control that. We can’t control the family of origin to which we are born. God makes those decisions. Sometimes that family situation enables us to get grounded early and to learn to make wise decisions, to feel a sense of belonging, and to develop a healthy sense of identity and worth. Sometimes that isn’t the case. We can’t control other people’s happiness. Our goal should always be to bless others, but people have to make their own choices regarding how they will process their life happenings.
We can’t control the future. I used to wrestle with thoughts from time to time about how life would be as I aged. I worried about my physical health. Being diabetic, I worried about complications. I worried about how my children would turn out and if they would succeed in life. I worried about the day retirement would come. Would we have enough to live on? There was nothing in those moments that suggested a catastrophe in any of those areas, and yet, worrisome thoughts consumed me. I had to learn to that God wanted me to depend fully on Him to care for me and to take care of my concerns. I had to focus my attention on spiritual growth in the area of trust and dependence. Why could I trust God for the moment, but not for my future? Was He going to go MIA on me? Did I think something would happen down the road that would catch Him off guard? Did I think something would come at me that He couldn’t handle?
Do we realize how futile it is to worry about the future? How can you stress over something that isn’t happening and is so far out in the future? How much time to we waste worrying about things that never happen? Matthew says in verse 34 of our text not to even worry about tomorrow. Corrie Ten Boom said this about worry: “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength-carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” You can’t enjoy today if you are worried about tomorrow, right?
Make plans, but learn to accept that you can’t control the outcome of those plans. You have to trust God to either bless those plans or to bless you in spite of those plans.
I think sometimes we think if we worry about something, we can have some sort of control or influence over what we are worried about. That isn’t the case. Worrying isn’t constructive. It is consuming, in a bad way. Worrying wears us out. It depletes us of energy. It robs us of focus. It reduces our effectiveness. It destroys our peace.
When we live worried, we are out of alignment with God. How do I know that? Because Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He told His disciples in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Listen, worry will never fuel your faith or trust in Jesus. In fact, it will undermine your spiritual progress. If you are living worried about what 2023 holds, about how a circumstance will play out, about how you will have some need met, about how others will act or react to you, you are out of alignment with God and His purposes for your life. Worry is an indicator you need a spiritual alignment.
Second, if you are chasing the things of this world, you are out of spiritual alignment. Matthew says that the pagans, those without God, are chasing after the things of the world. These are things have become consumed with or worried about. They are chasing after the things of the world because they believe acquiring them will satisfy them, will fulfill them, will bring the peace that worry has destroyed.
Success and significance aren’t found in the acquisition of things or in worldly experiences, but they are found inside a faith-filled, obedient relationship with Jesus. He knows what will truly satisfy you. He knows what kinds of achievements will give you a sense of success and significance. He knows how your life can make the best impact on others. Matthew paints a great picture here with the word, “chasing.” I never was one for a game of tag. First of all, it involved running. Second of all, it involved running. So, there’s that. Constantly being in motion, constantly chasing, constantly running but never acquiring what you think will enable you to feel settled, is such a pointless existence. That’s just it…Jesus came to rescue us from a pointless existence. He came to give us a purposeful existence. A pointless existence results from chasing the things of the world to satisfy and give us significance. A purposeful existence is the byproduct of resting in Christ.
Solomon talked it about it as a chasing of the wind in the book of Ecclesiastes. How many of you would find joy in hanging out after church to run all over our 76-acre campus trying to catch the wind? I’m not signing up for that. It would result in nothing, except me being out of breath and exhausted. Effort that results in nothing is pointless. It doesn’t matter how many degrees you can earn, how many certificates you can hang on a wall, how many championship rings you can wear, how many homes or cars you own, how many Amazon packages you can receive, what the number on the scale says in the morning, or how many friends you have on Twitter. It all becomes pointless when it lacks the purpose for which God has created you. When chasing things or chasing a certain status becomes your priority, those pursuits become idols, and God gets edged out of your life. When God is edged out of your life, your spiritual vitality which includes your hope, peace, joy, and satisfaction will begin to evaporate.
Mark 8:36 says, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
That’s a really good question to ponder. Listen, you are impacted by what you chase. What you are driven to consume will consume you. Your character and your desires are shaped by whatever you are chasing. Have you ever thought to yourself, “I’ve become someone I don’t like,” or “I’ve become what I vowed never to become?” We change to accommodate the chase. Whether good or bad, we conform to enable the pursuit.
In Romans 12:2, Paul warns us about the cost of conformity when we are conforming to the wrong things. He says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
What you chase will determine the pattern for your life. If chasing the approval of your friends becomes your goal, you’ll find yourself at the party or the club doing things you never saw yourself doing, but because of the approval you seek, you will conform to the pattern the chase dictates. Don’t say you are strong enough to handle the temptation that will come or the pressure that will come or that you can participate to a certain level and then walk away when things get too crazy. I have seen too many people gamble and lose with that logic. Besides, why set yourself up to potentially fail and to have to fight to succeed?
I have never met someone who consistently chased the world and then wound up living a satisfied life. When you run after the things of the world, you are making them an idol and you are edging God out. When you edge God out, you disconnect from the power to live a victorious life. If you are chasing the things of this world, you need to check your alignment.
How do we get back into alignment if we are living worried or are living to chase the things of the world? Matthew gives us the answer in verse 33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Alignment comes when God is on the throne of our lives, when doing His will, when advancing His Kingdom, when walking in the righteousness of Christ becomes our obsession. When we chase Jesus, we come into alignment with Him. You know how it feels when your car is out of alignment. It eventually becomes a rough ride. You get pulled in directions you aren’t intending to go. Your car’s performance is negatively impacted. It doesn’t matter how sleek your car is, what kind of engine it has, how cool the computer package is, or how fully loaded it is with other features. If your tires aren’t properly aligned, you will be forced to keep a hard grip on the steering wheel. Your brakes will be adversely impacted. Tire drag from misaligned wheels will cause your vehicle to consume more fuel, costing you more. The possibility of an accident also greatly increases.
When we are out of alignment with Jesus, there are also negative consequences. Just like driving that car becomes harder and more costly when it is out of alignment, life without Jesus is definitely harder and causes extra heartache and pain that is unnecessary.
What is the evidence of proper spiritual alignment? It’s the “and all these things will be given to you as well” part of the verse. Anyone know what I’m talking about? Hard things won’t disappear from your life, but hard things will become easier. Unwanted circumstances won’t be prevented, but they will turn out for your good. When favor with people comes you will know God opened their heart toward you. When provision comes, it will be better and more than you could have expected, and you will know that God caused it to happen for you. You’ll see things work out in relationships that you couldn’t have predicted. You’ll experience healing in unusual ways. The timing of events will have God’s fingerprints on them. The enjoyment you will get from worship, prayer, Bible reading, tithing, and other spiritual disciplines will be better than anything you previously experienced in the world. You will crave time with Jesus.
When you are properly aligned with Jesus you won’t be consumed with worry, and you won’t be exhausted from chasing things that can’t satisfy. In addition, you have a promise here and other places in Scripture that God knows what you need, and He will take care of you.
It’s like someone who serves in the military. The government takes care of their material needs, right? They have food, clothing, shelter and so forth, so that doesn’t have to be the soldier’s focus. The soldiers can remain focused on obeying their orders and protecting their country. The government knows that the soldiers need food and drink and clothing and shelter in order to obey their orders and to protect their country, so they take care of those things so that the soldiers can focus on obeying their orders and protecting their country.
If your concern is knowing and following Jesus and advancing His Kingdom, He will ensure you have what you need to do that.
As I begin to close, I want to draw your attention to one word in Matthew 6:33. It is the word “first.” But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
There is nothing wrong with having a desire to have a nicer home, a more expensive car, new clothes or vacations or other experiences that enhance your life. Not every earthly experience is evil and should be avoided. The key is alignment. The key is having Christ first. It’s seeking Him in decisions about the home, the car, the budget, the way you spend your money, the educational pursuit, the relationships you are investing in, etc. This passage basically helps us understand that when we prioritize knowing and obeying Christ first, the rest of our lives are blessed by Him. When Christ is absolutely first, you’ll have the wisdom to choose the best paths and people for you which will make your life the best it can be.
Be honest today. Is Jesus somewhere over here on the side of your life or is He in the center of your life? Is He an add-on? Do you tack-Him on and let Him tag along while you do your own thing, or is He in the driver’s seat? Is He your Coach who calls the plays for your life or just your Consultant that you check in with from time to time? Is His Word the last word for you, or is it one of many opinions you seek? Is intentional time with Him a priority or do you give Him a few minutes here and there when you have some time to spare like when you are sitting in traffic or are drifting off to sleep? Is Christ first or maybe is He fourth or fifth this morning? Are you money-hungry or are you hungering and thirsting after righteousness? Are you craving His approval or the approval of others?
Are you worried about much and weary from chasing the wrong things? Get in alignment with Jesus and see how great life with Him can be.
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