More Splendid Than Solomon
Scripture Reading — Luke 12:22-34
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. . . . Not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”
Bobby McFerrin’s mother taught him to love the Lord. When he grew up, he wrote the hit song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” The song’s opening lines say: “In every life we have some trouble. But when you worry, you make it double.”
Jesus said, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.” Consider the ravens; consider the wild flowers. God feeds them; God clothes them. And you are much more valuable in his sight than birds and flowers. Trust God for your daily bread and bodily needs.
Because so many of us live lives of little faith, we are often filled with fear and insecurity. We toil and fret and hold tight what we manage to earn. We set our hearts on these things. We run after these things.
So many of us are often so preoccupied with “getting and spending [that] we lay waste our powers,” as the poet William Wordsworth put it. And in the process we act like unbelievers.
There is a freedom that comes with trusting God. We can sell some of our possessions without fear of becoming poor, and we can give to people in need, becoming richer ourselves, with treasure in heaven.
Increase our faith, Lord, for we are prone to worry. Give us a quiet, trusting, and loving heart, that we may remember people in need. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
About the author — George Young
George Young, a native New Yorker, worked as a taxi driver in New York City before studying to become a pastor. Then he, his wife Ruth, and their children were missionaries for many years in northeastern Japan. They worked with ministers and believers from the Reformed Church in Japan to spread the good news of salvation in Christ and establish new churches. Now George and Ruth are retired and live in the northeastern United States, nearer to their children and grandchildren.
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