March 14, 2012 | Leave a comment Today, Wednesday March 14, 2012, is the nineteenth day of preparing our hearts, souls and minds for the most high of all Christian holy days, Easter Sunday. Today I need to “put off” worry and “put on” trust. To quote my cousin Mike: “Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles; it takes away today’s peace!” Whenever you are I worry we are practicing negative meditation. The Hebrew word which conveys the concept of meditation is based on the idea of rumination. Cattle are ruminants. That means cattle chew the cud. When a cow swallows a mouthful of grass it will later regurgitate it and chew it again. It will repeat this process again and again until it gets the most nutrients possible from the blades of grass it consumes. Christian meditation is a spiritual process whereby we mentally remember a Bible verse over and over so that we may maximize the truth which we may obtain from it. Worry is negative meditation where we focus and refocus on all that might possibly go wrong. Christian meditation brings us peace worry brings us fear. As we prepare ourselves today I ask you to “put off” worry and “put on” trust. Jesus clearly teaches us that worry has no place in our Christian character. 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Matthew 6:25–32 (NASB) The basic idea Jesus is communicating is that we have no power to change any of the circumstances of our lives through worry. His Father already knows what we need and we should trust Him and not waste our lives worrying about those things over which we have no control. In this Bible passage Jesus is clearly teaching us that the focus of our thinking should be on trusting our Heavenly Father rather than worrying. In fact Jesus’ teaching is much stronger than to simply suggest we not worry about food, the length of our lives, or clothing. He tells us not even to worry about how we will answer those who prosecute us when we are on trial for our lives because of our faith in Him. 19 “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. Matthew 10:19 (NASB) In another parable Jesus teaches us that worrying about the things of this life actually choke God’s Word making it ineffective and unfruitful in our lives. 22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Matthew 13:22 (NASB) Could it be that those who claim that they cannot understand God’s Word, or that it does not work for them have missed this basic point. Perhaps such individuals worry reveals their lack of trust. The apostle Peter also tells us that we should cast our cares, or anxieties, or worries upon God because we can trust Him. Why? He cares for us! 7 casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 (HCSB) The apostle Paul clarifies the teaching about worry. Paul tells us that instead of worrying we should instead petition God through prayer while thanking Him all the while for the requests we make. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 (HCSB) To thank God in advance of receiving that for which we have asked should not be misunderstood as the false teaching “name it, claim it.” Instead, Paul is telling us that we should trust God so much, and worry so little. Whenever we ask God to supply our needs in prayer we should be so confident that God cares for us, and will supply our needs (as Jesus has taught us) that from this confidence in God springs our natural thanksgiving, even before we have received anything we have asked for in prayer. Join me please today in “putting off” worry and “putting on” trust in God. Because God knows what we need before we ask. He is also completely reliable and worthy not only of our thanks, but also of our praise!