June 20

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Saturday, June 20

MATTHEW 6:24-34

Trust in the Lord.

Prayerthoughts

a. I have to worry somewhat about food and clothing. But am I placing too much concern on those externals? 

b. God takes care of the living things of the world. God will take care of us if we try to follow what God wants. 

c. Thinking about my death often comes up in the Lord’s words. I need not worry about it if I have placed the Lord to be part of my life. 

d. The Lord addresses me as you of “little faith.” Do I think of my belief in God as much as I should? 

e. God knows what we need, and will help us as we try to help ourselves. The point is my trust in God. Am I aware that the Lord truly cares about me and is helping me be the person that I know I should be? 

f. The idea is that I must put the Kingdom and the moral conduct set up by Jesus to be first in my life, and then everything else will fall into place. 

g. God will work with me today as I place myself continually in God’s presence. 

h. My prayerthoughts… 

Today, I will read 2 Chronicles 24:17-25, and write an
important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

OUR FREE WILL

+ The Gospel gives an important distinction as we live our lives

- if we serve the master called mammon, we will be victims of worry and anxiety, and we will believe in luck which ultimately will always run out

- and we despair

- but if we serve God, we may have all the worries and anxieties of life, but we will seek God at the same time, and God will help us see that everything that happens to us is for good

+ In the Christian understanding of things, there is no such thing as luck

- Jesus points out such a fact even in nature

- God is truly in charge of everything that happens

- God takes care of the grass of the field and the birds in the sky and the beautiful flowers that no human being can create

- Jesus says: how much more will God be interested in human beings, taking care of them, directing their lives toward the good

+ In God’s understanding, everything fits into the pattern

- God will work with us as we try to accomplish what we want to accomplish, giving us the chance to choose what we want

- at the same time, God allows things to happen in our lives which change, alter or enhance the desires we have, thus bringing about the make-up of our lives

- it seems as though we are choosing, and at times it seems as though we are governed by outside forces that have nothing to do with what we want

- but what is actually happening is that God is working with us as we go about our choices at every juncture in our growth

- and it is all for our good

+ But there is a catch

- God will bring good out of every situation, it is true

- but there is something that cannot be overlooked

- you and I have a free will, and we can pursue our dreams at will

- but we must make God part of our free will

- Jesus says that as we go about doing what we’re doing in life

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given you besides.

+Right there is our problem: we use our free will, but we don’t seek the Kingdom of God first

- the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures tried to tell the Israelites just that, like Zechariah in the second book of Chronicles

- but they used their free will only, and they were abandoned by the Lord

+ What it means is that we keep doing what we do in life

- we live and move, we raise our families, we help our grandkids, we make money to support ourselves, we take care of the people in our lives that we must, we enjoy life and relax at times

- but we do all of those things with the kingdom of God in mind

Seek first the kingdom, Jesus says

+ Free will is essential for us to be free in this world, but the Lord tells us to choose freely to control that free will by always seeking the Lord’s will as we use ours.