Consider

Rad Luke 12:22-34.

Do not worry. By most counts (I haven't personally counted them all), there are 365 commands in the Bible to not worry or fear. That's one for every day of the year...except for Leap Day (maybe that's the one day every four years we're allowed to worry or fear). And there is much to worry about and to be afraid of these days, or so we are told. Global warming. Election results. Religious intolerance. Safety of our children and grandchildren. On and on the list could go. Watch the television news, read the internet, spend time in a coffee shop listening to the "wisest of the wise" discuss the problems of the day and you'll find plenty to fear.

And maybe that's part of Jesus' point here. After he's told the people to watch out for greed, he launches into this discussion of worry and fear, and the antidote he suggests is to pay attention to the birds, to the flowers, to the things around you. The world keeps turning, the animals have what they need, and life continues. The heavenly Father is big enough to take care of those things we worry about if we will let him, and Jesus' evidence is the reality of the world around him. Do you suppose that, in our time, the reason levels of anxiety and fear and worry are so high is because we don't spend enough time considering the flowers, the birds, and the world God has made? We spend so much time in front of our screens, soaking up the latest polls and the catastrophes that we don't have any energy left to consider the lilies.

When it comes to what we have and what we plan for, the money and things we hoard in order to make sure we have a future, perhaps we grab onto them so tightly because we're always being told we should, that we'll lose it all if we don't. Oddly, the ones who tend to grab most tightly seem to be the ones who most often lose it all. Strange, isn't it?

Jesus says that the thing that is at the center of our hearts, the thing we grab onto most tightly, is what we most treasure (12:34). What we most prize defines who we are. And if it's money or possessions, if we're worried constantly that those things will disappear, or we won't have enough, or someone will steal it from us, then our heart will never find peace. Your heart's treasure, Jesus says, should be something more than money or possessions or anything in this world that is passing away, something eternal. Make sure what you treasure is something that will last, for that is the antidote to worry and fear.

This is my Father's world, oh let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world, why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is king, let the heavens ring
God reigns; let the earth be glad!

Now, put the screen away and go consider the lilies.

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