Are You in the Way?
By Pastor Bob Wise

Matthew 6:31-34
³¹   Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 ³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

³³ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

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Some Versions say: Don’t worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself.

What is God actually saying here in these verses?  Let me try to explain if I may.

In Matthew 6:31-34 He is telling us that He knows that unsaved people, the Bible called them Gentiles ( not a Jew or of the Chosen People at that time)  ( which later would to be changed in the New Testament when Jesus said to spread the Gospel to all nations not only to the Jews but to the Gentiles )),  that these Gentiles, (unsaved people in our day), were looking for all the material things in the world with no search for the One True God and the People of Israel thought they had to have those things also to be successful and to get by.  God is trying to get us to understand that He realizes we need certain things in our lives and He is willing to let us have what we need and more, IF we will seek HIM and HIS Kingdom FIRST.  Once we do that, He promised to take care of us.

 This is a very powerful set of Verses in that it is a direct correlation of what is happening more than ever before in Church history.  People who call themselves Christians are allowing the Gentile ways into the Church which has basically pushed aside the TRUE GOD: YAHWEH, Jehovah, The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, Jesus, The Holy Spirit.  We have allowed ourselves to start believing that we as Christians deserve as much or more that non-believers do, because after all….isn’t that fair?

I hear it all the time……. People will write to me in letters and emails telling me that there is nothing wrong with Christians having all the “good” things that non-believers have.  Why should those outside the Church have all the good stuff?  How come unbelievers always seem to get RICH?

First off, I am not saying that Christians have to be poor, down-trodden people with hardly enough to eat and no roof over their heads.  What I am saying is that we have our eyes on the WRONG PRIZE! As the song says: 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Also, Christians complain that they cannot understand why things just don’t work out right for them.  Never enough money to pay the bills, not a good enough job, sickness, too much stress on the job, too much stress at home and the list goes on and on.

There is a simple explanation as to why Christians have these problems.  Their eyes are focused on themselves instead of GOD.  We tend to GET IN THE WAY.  We put OURSELVES FIRST, which is backwards and contrary to what God tells us we MUST DO!  This doesn’t mean we will never have problems, but when we do…..the problem is solved quicker and I truly believe we will have fewer problems when we SEEK HIM FIRST.

How can we expect God to help us when we are so busy being in control ourselves?  Rather difficult unless you believe in a God who will FORCE His will on you and if you know the Bible….God WILL NOT force His will on us.  He allows us to make decisions BUT He also gave us an Instruction book so we can make these decisions properly.

He tells us clearly in these verses….LOOK TO HIM FIRST, not wait until we have already messed things up ourselves and then need to find a way to fix our mistakes.

We need to remember this simple lesson:  I CAN’T—HE CAN !

It really is that simple!  SEEK Him,  TRUST Him,  ALLOW Him.

When you SEEK His Kingdom FIRST, everything becomes very manageable!  Everything becomes so much easier.  Everything becomes so much MORE in all phases of your life.

SEEK, TRUST, ALLOW

Remember these 3 words……they are your guide to a better life!