Meditation: The Words of Jesus, No. 1
"Take therefore no thought for the morrow."
'Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.'
Matthew 6:34, KJV
Surely, Jesus didn’t mean for us to not think about the future, but maybe he mostly did and what does that mean?
His brother, James, seemed to have a grasp of it, and he told us to not boast in our plans, but to always plan with an eye to the subversive will of God, which he said right before sternly admonishing diligent planners who store up wealth that judgment would rain down on their barns. Jesus also had strong feelings about barns and the plans of men who built them to hoard.
It’s as though diligence is more about tending to beauty than storing up security.
Living an intentional life should not then mean that we are wringing our will out of the universe, but that we wake up to the beauty given to us by the Lord, his kingdom around us, and seek it. I am a father, so I should intently tend to the souls of my children. I am a husband, so I should intently tend to my wife's soul. And so it goes with my employment, my ministry, and my talents.
I should be (and am) writing up a five year plan with these things, but all while knowing that my finite understanding and foresight can be undone by the good will of the Lord, and that the undoing only leads to more good.
Lord, help us to live with intent, but to hold our intentions loosely, to see your good kingdom around us in all of it’s beauty as we draw ever nearer to the beauty of your face.
Amen.