Luke 12:13-34

The blessed life- we want it, but what is it from God’s perspective? How can we forfeit worry and anticipate provision in the Kingdom of God? Who is truly secure? Who is blessed? What is life about? Well, it certainly is not about how much you own, as some would lead us to believe. In the Kingdom of God, possession accumulation is not a sure way to a secure life. Jesus assures us of this in Luke 12. Jesus knows the human heart. He knows that people try to bypass the kingdom of God by seeking to secure a good life through accumulating wealth, a life built on self-dependence and personal gratification. Jesus wants His disciples to know that we do not have to live with a mindset consistently revolving around our personal assets. To the one living this way, God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” This is not what we are going for, right?

As we follow Jesus, we enter the Kingdom of God, resigning our lives over to the care of the One we call Father. He is our caretaker; we will lack nothing (Ps. 23). So why concern ourselves with things we cannot control? “Worrying will not add an inch to our height,” said Jesus. Since we cannot accomplish this small feat, why worry about anything at all? (Luke 12:25-26). However, these words are hard to remember when we are anxious…it is tug of war. Anxiousness can be defined as a fearful response concerning a perceived future threat. But our future rests safely in the wise and loving hands of God.

As maturing disciples, Jesus is training us to rely on the Kingdom of God just as He does. Since your life is under God’s rule, do not be distracted by its circumstances. Consider the birds, they have no savings plan, no TD Ameritrade, no credit union, Vanguard, or Fidelity account YET God looks after them…the Lord is their Shepherd. If we are more precious than birds, then how much more will our Father, the One in the atmosphere around us, look after us. Regardless of whatever else may come, the blessed life, the well-off life, is the life under the care of God in the “right now” kingdom. Worry is what happens after realizing the control once thought to be ours was just an illusion after all. Take a moment and consider how the wild flowers grow. Wild flowers are the clothes of the grassy fields. How much more will He clothe you…His very own loved ones?

Friends, Jesus is concerned about our desires. Worry is desire gone mad. Don’t worry (reminding myself), our lives are in the care of God. Vouchsafe in the Kingdom. Don’t set your heart on what the world runs after. Set your heart on things above, on God. Desire His way of governing life, the Kingdom.  Seek Him and He will find you, and with Him comes all that you need. Chase the Kingdom. It will find you while bringing all else with it. Devote yourselves to Him. Serve Him as your treasure. Where your treasure is there your heart will also be. We will always act in preference to our values. Jesus knows this, which is why He promotes desiring and seeking the Kingdom. With it comes everything. Those trusting in the Kingdom are the well-off ones. In the Kingdom they are constantly in a state of blessedness.