The Father Knows

Most of us think about money more than we admit, and Jesus speaks to that in today's passage.

He says these words outdoors, to a crowd so large, Luke says, "that they trode one upon another." It starts when a man in the crowd asks Jesus to make his brother share an inheritance with him. Jesus refuses to settle it. Instead He tells a story about a rich farmer whose land grew so much that he planned to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. That very night God told him, "this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Then Jesus turns to His disciples and says today's words. So the setting is a quarrel over property, a story about a rich man's death, and a crowd pushing in, among people for whom food and clothing were real daily questions.

That matters, because Jesus is not scolding people for needing things. He says plainly, "your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things." What He warns against is the seeking. The words "seek after" mean to chase something, and He says this is what "the nations of the world" do. He is describing what a whole life is built around, more than a worry that crosses your mind.

The order is the whole instruction: "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you." Right after that, so nobody mistakes what kind of Father this is, Jesus says, "Fear not, little flock." Giving them the kingdom is something the Father is glad to do.

This is more freeing than the way it is often preached. You are not being told to stop caring about money. You could not do that, and it would not be good if you could. You are being told that the caring has been put in the wrong place in the line. Put God's kingdom first, and trust the One who knows what you need, because He has already decided what He is glad to give.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 116 is Let No Man Despise (1 Timothy 4:12).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna