Good morning Nostriches!
Reading the #Bible in context is important.
While I have many physical Bibles that I’ve been given or purchased over the decades, for the last few years I tend to use the Bible App (by YouVersion) on my iPad. I like it for a variety of reasons but one reason is the daily verse.
I don’t tend to go through the commentary videos, but for people young in their walk with Christ I think it’s a good idea.
What I do however is click the “read chapter” button. Then I like to read the surrrounding section for its context.
Well today’s verse was the famous “seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you”
It’s an oft quoted statement made by Jesus. So I was like, what’s the rest of the context and verses around it?
Short summary (full passage below) is Christ was instructing the people not to worry about their day to day human needs becasue Father God already knows about it and if He takes care of the birds how much more will He take care of us, His images bearers!
Now it gets even better…
If you read the verse directly before this section it’s the also well known “you cannot serve both God and money” or in the Greek, Mammom.
You see in modern English translations the demon Mammom has been obscured and translated to “money”. But the original text written by Jesus’ Disciples was the proper noun, a name, and clear identifier of a specific demon…Mammon.
Mammon’s primary goal is to materialize humanity. Meaning, remove the human connection. Make us seek material things and relationships with the physical world…which is the exact opposite of what God wants for us.
God wants us close to Him and one another, not Mammom.
Here’s the verses:
““No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money. “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you — you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear? ’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:24-34 HCSB
https://bible.com/bible/72/mat.6.24-34.HCSB
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