Lilies of the Field

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.   I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,   for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?   ( Corinthians 3:1-3) I’ve jumped on the blog bandwagon (according to my adult children—too late), but I don’t particularly like this form of medium. Why? For the same reason I don’t particularly like sitting under pastors who give a 20 or 30-minute sermonette to cater to the lack of strong spiritual appetites of the congregation. There, I said it. Call me judgmental. Call me unkind. It is a pet peeve I have—one in which I struggle to maintain a godly and balanced perspective. It concerns me that believers can sit for almost anything that appeals to their fleshly appetites for longer periods of time and with

“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? 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? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 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! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heave

“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? 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? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 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! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your hea

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:13-17) Are we living in uncertain times? That depends on your perspective. From God’s perspective, no times are uncertain. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, our perspective should be no different than any other season of life if we are resting in His providential care. COVID-19, like many other diseases throughout history, is nothing new under the sun. Yet, due to its global threat, factoring in its unknown elements and the restrictions that have come wit