Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
December 9, 2022
Read Matthew 6:25-34
25 “Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? 27 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. 29 But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. 30 If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith? 31 Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32 Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Good Morning, Fear not, I am with you, so be not dismayed.
Oh, the things about which we spend time worrying! The energy required to worry is overwhelming. If only, there was a better way! Oh wait, I know! Let’s turn over our worries to God. It’s so simple, yet so hard. It’s as if we are hardwired with a worry switch that is stuck in the on position.
I am not making fun of or laughing at those who worry; I am laughing with you at my own waste of energy. Energy is a precious resource for which there is a limited supply. We might be remembering our younger days when energy seemed limitless, but even then we reached our limit on occasion. Even though energy is a physical resource, it appears to be controlled by our mental and spiritual means. Think of those days when you are unhappy and you can hardly find the energy to get out of bed or off the couch. So what do we do to create, preserve, and renew our energy source?
We must put our “house” in order. Just like baking a loaf of homemade bread, we must do things in a particular order as we follow specific directions. Otherwise, the yeast doesn’t get activated and we have hard bread instead of light and fluffy bread. (My squirrel is smelling fresh bread in the oven. LOL)
How do we do this? We begin by praising God as we awaken each day: Thank you for another day! Next, we chat with God for a bit! Share yourself with the One who created You. Turn over your worries to God so that the Holy Spirit can be activated within you. Don’t spend your days focused on your worries and become like a hard loaf of bread. Give those worries away so that you may be like that light and fluffy loaf.
When you start your day this way, you are ready to serve God in whatever way you are called and you will “not grow weary, but mount up on the wings and soar like eagles.” Throughout our day and at the end of our day, remember to share and thank God.
Gracious God, Thank You for loving us. We are quick to worry. Help us turn our worries to You. Thank you! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: What helps me to trust in God’s provision?
Talk to God! Be energized! Pastor Liz