“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look 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? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” – Matthew 6:24-27, 33-34

I admit, this passage is sometimes difficult for me. There have been a number of times in this journey through Leukemia that I have been anxious about my condition, my pain, and sometimes my future. And yet each day, God would bring me back to His promises, His protection, and His provision for me. And never has He abandoned me.

It’s hard to bring light to the world if we are anxious about things like money, clothing, food, etc. And it is not just that worry is useless (it changes nothing except causing us stress). The other, larger problem is that these worrisome things tend to rule our lives. Jesus says they become our master. We can’t at the same time live by faith and trust in God and also worry about things. It is one or the other.

Christians, what positive impact do we have on the world if we worry and fret and are in fact ruled by the same things as those who don’t know Jesus? If our lives are preoccupied with fulfilling our own pleasures we end up looking a lot like the world, entrapped in darkness. And where is the hope in that? It is not a matter of what we possess, but rather what possesses us. Let’s let Jesus who is The Light of the World shine in and through us. Let’s do what Jesus said: Do not be anxious about your life. What worry owns you? Why not give it up and seek first (and always) the kingdom of God. You’ll be better for it and so will those around you.