Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

April 27
Monday


FIRST THINGS
FIRST

READ:
Matthew 6:25-34
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A seminar leader wanted to make an important point, so he took a wide-mouth jar and filled it with rocks. "Is the jar full?" he asked. "Yes," came a reply. "Oh, really?" he said. Then he poured smaller pebbles into the jar to fill the spaces between the rocks. "Is it full now?" "Yes," said someone else. "Oh, really?" He then filled the remaining spaces between the rocks and stones with sand. "Is it full now?" he asked. "Probably not," said another, to the amusement of the audience. Then he took a pitcher of water and poured it into the jar.

"What's the lesson we learn from this?" he asked. An eager participant spoke up, "No matter how full the jar is, there's always room for more." "Not quite," said the leader. "The lesson is: to get everything in the jar, you must always put the big things in first."

Jesus proclaimed a similar principle in the Sermon on the Mount. He knew that we waste our time worrying about the little things that seem so urgent but crowd out the big things of eternal value. "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things," Jesus reminded His hearers. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt. 6:32-233).

What are you putting first in your life? __Dennis De Haan
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`````````````````````````MAKE IT PRACTICAL``````````````````

```````````````````. Always pray before planning.````````````````

```````````````. Always love people more than things.`````````````

````````````````````. Do all things to please God.````````````````
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Those who lay up treasures in heaven
are the richest people on earth.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Matthew 6:25-34***********

25 Therefore I say to you,
do not worry about your
life, what you will eat or
what you will drink; nor
about your body, what you
will put on. Is not life more
than food and the body
more than clothing? 26 Look
at the birds of the air, for
they neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns; yet
your heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not of more
value than they? 27 Which
of you by worrying can add
one cubit to his stature?

28 So why do you worry
about clothing? Consider
the lilies of the field, how
they grow: they neither toil
nor spin; 29 and yet I say
to you that even Solomon in
all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these.

30 Now if God so clothes
the grass of the field, which
today is, and tomorrow is
thrown into the oven, will
he not much more clothe
you O you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not worry,
saying, "What shall we
eat?" or "What shall we
drink?" or "What shall we
wear?" 32 For after all these
things the Gentiles seek.
For your heavenly Father
knows that you need all
these things. 33 But seek
first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be
added to you. 34 Therefore
do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow
will worry about its own
things. Sufficient for the
day is its own trouble.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

In Matthew 6, Jesus warns us against an ostensible display
of religious piety (vv.1-18) to show off our faith, and against
preoccupation with material possessions (vv.19-33) that stems from
a lack of faith. Instead, we are to seek God in the secret place (v.6),
and to seek Him first (v.33). sim Kay Tee