Luke 12:13-31 ~ Instead, seek His Kingdom, and these things will be added to you

Luke 12:13-31

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13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters ] 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [Consider the lilies; they neither spin nor weave] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his [God's] kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

Money, anxiety, prosperity, our fair share, all the things people spent vast resources to learn more about. It's all in God's hands.

The county I live in is sometimes called "The Bubble". We have great numbers in the census, monetarily. We are predominately one party at the voting polls. We have exceptional public schools where the kids graduate and go all over the United States to fine, fine universities. Low crime. The population is probably going to double in the next 5 years. We have large, two story houses, sometimes with 4 or more living areas. Our largest businesses are home improvement places. We have one of the highest suicide rates in Texas, some say it is high for all the United States.

One's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Primarily the suicide rate is high because the drug rate is about 50% of the High Schoolers. Sure it would be the milder drugs. This is probably echoed in adult substance abuse. Why do people misuse substances, use the mild or the addictive drugs? I wanted to know. The comedian, Robin Williams, says cocaine is God's way of telling us we have too much money. The information used by Alcoholic's Anonymous is a book called "Children Beyond the Yellow Brick Road." It says substances abuse is an immediate cure for feeling better. Drug use creates new friends, doing something 'cool', the high eases loneliness, makes people feel brave for doing something rebellious, lawbreaking, skating the edge. Nerds feel accepted. Cowardly feel brave. Lonely has new friends. Anxious feels soothed. Unfortunately, it is a false picture. False hope.

I've been privileged, recently, to have teenage friend in my life decide to turn her life around through an AA program. She credits her new faith in the Lord for her wholeness. She has stepped out at the age of 14 to pursue a life of wellness. She not only attends the youth programs, but she attends the adult programs. I've seen her so encouraged by much older women stopping, outside of meetings, to encourage her and praise her for making a choice to be well. God has blessed her, in each of her steps. The honesty of the teen conversations is amazingly truthful and supportive.

When I look at the passage, coming from a background of openly cynical Christians, I can see and remember in my childhood the scoffing over this passage. But it isn't false, it is real. I had two grandmothers. One was the widow's mite, giving her two pennies. People in my family have said this grandmother was cursed with bad luck. The other grandmother lived in an Antebellum house of her dreams. Both women were loving, loving, good Grandmothers. Only one grandmother was truly happy, the widow's mite grandmother. The paint stayed on her house only by the grace of God, but her house held up beyond her life. It might not have been a grand house, but it held a grateful, prayerful woman of God.

The most important word in this passage would be 'Instead' seek His Kingdom. These are that attitudes, beloved of God. It is the press of the physical straining against the soul to maintain the real truth of these two paragraphs. When you consider Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses it seems easier to grasp than rely upon God for our needs, rely upon God to worry for us. Yet the people who decide to trust the Lord, experience His peace.


Psalm 56:3
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.

Isaiah 41:10
fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

1 Samuel 1:17
Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."

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