1st Thursday of Advent (December 4) What you look at

​Prepare to Listen.  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 6:25-34
25Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?  28And why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.  30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  31Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?”  32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  34‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
How seriously do you take Jesus words about worry by trying to live them?
 
I’ll confess, I’m a worrier and, since these words of Jesus make me feel guilty, I gloss over them, pretend he wasn’t serious, or they’re no longer relevant.  Like many other Christians, I fail to take time to consider how I can live this worry-free way.  But they weren’t for another era, a different people.  They’re for me and you, who claim to be followers of Jesus in the 21st century.
 
Jesus forces us to think about worry.  He used the word six times, three times as a command: ‘Do not worry.’  Do not worry about your life; do not worry about food, drink, clothing; do not worry about tomorrow.  I don’t often worry about having adequate food, drink and clothing.  I do worry about my life and about tomorrow, all those big and small things over which I have no control.
 
What intrigued me about Jesus’ teaching against worry, is that he didn’t judge us for worrying.  Instead, he diagnosed the problem as ‘little faith.’  Then gave a simple command, using illustrations from nature.  He asked us to change what we look at.  Look at the birds of the air, consider the lilies (a word that includes a variety of plants) and the grass of the field.  Birds, plants, grass, all small and common.  But how often do we pause to look and consider them?  If God takes care of those seemingly unimportant things, why do we worry?
 
When you’re worried, pause and look at the birds, consider the lilies and grass.  Let the Lord address you through them.
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, when I find myself worrying, let me remember to look and consider creation and be reminded of your care for the little creatures and thus be assured of your care for me.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Look and linger over the small things in creation.