Carson on the "therefore" of Matthew 6:25. Why should we not worry?

“Because transient earthly pleasures do not satisfy and do not last; because moral and spiritual vision is easily distorted and darkened, because a choice must be made between God and money, because the kingdom of God demands unswerving allegiance to its values, therefore do not worry, and in particular do not worry about mere things.
But let us consider a more subtle connection.... Jesus has been minimizing the ultimate significance of material possessions; and no doubt not a few among his hearers find themselves wondering "but what about necessities?"... Jesus answers that just as earthly possessions can become an idol which deposes God by becoming disproportionately important, so also can earthly needs become a source of worry which deposes God by fostering distrust."


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“If Only . . .” Living with Regrets | CCEF

Good article here on how "living with regrets" can be a kind of inverted pride.

“If Only . . .” Living with Regrets | CCEF

The uncontested ruler

I think this will be the conclusion to this morning's sermon on Matthew 6:19-24

There are celebrations in Cairo this weekend as President Mubarak has stepped down.

But we have to admit that it is unclear as yet whether whoever follows him will be any better.

One day there will be an uncontested ruler.

There will be no more protests against his rule, not because the citizens of the kingdom have no freedom, but because we will all be able to see perfectly; we will see perfectly that he is the perfect ruler; that he is the one in whom we find our purpose. That he is the one for whom we were made. That he is the one who alone is of infinite and lasting value. That he may for ever be our treasure.

Do you treasure Him?

Do you see everything in His shaddow?

Is He your master?

Carson on our propensity for hypocrisy. Matthew 6:1

“We human beings are a strange lot. We hear high moral injunctions and glimpse just a little the genuine beauty of perfect holiness, and then prostitute the vision by dreaming about the way others would hold us in high esteem if we were like that. The demand for genuine perfection loses itself in the lesser goal of external piety; the goal of pleasing the Father is traded for its pygmy cousin, the goal of pleasing man. It almost seems as if the greater the demand for holiness, the greater the opportunity for hypocrisy.”