Epiphany 8 / OT 8
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
-- Matthew 6:34
This whole passage is a counsel against allowing anxiety to rob you of the joy of life. In days of high blood pressure, heartburn, and ulcers, there could hardly be a more important message than this. We spend so much energy and anxiety on what we cannot control about the future that we destroy ourselves without experiencing the joy of the gifts of God for today. To pray "Give us this day our daily bread" is a radical prayer. It is praying just for food for today. The Hebrews had to learn in their journey across the wilderness that God could be trusted to provide manna for each day, and if they tried to hoard it, it would spoil. As we pray this prayer, we are trying to learn to trust God for today and not be anxious about tomorrow. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing, Jesus declared. He pointed to the traditional male role of sowing and reaping and the female role of toiling and spinning and suggested that life did not depend on these. He didn't disparage work, but he suggested both men and women could become so consumed by their toil that they were eaten alive by the very acts that were meant to enrich their lives. What is life about? It is experienced in right relationships as reflected in the kingdom of God and God's righteousness. It is not that wealth gained by labor is bad, but when it is so much the focus of life that it produces anxiety about tomorrow, it harms right relationships and becomes a false path.
-- Matthew 6:34
This whole passage is a counsel against allowing anxiety to rob you of the joy of life. In days of high blood pressure, heartburn, and ulcers, there could hardly be a more important message than this. We spend so much energy and anxiety on what we cannot control about the future that we destroy ourselves without experiencing the joy of the gifts of God for today. To pray "Give us this day our daily bread" is a radical prayer. It is praying just for food for today. The Hebrews had to learn in their journey across the wilderness that God could be trusted to provide manna for each day, and if they tried to hoard it, it would spoil. As we pray this prayer, we are trying to learn to trust God for today and not be anxious about tomorrow. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing, Jesus declared. He pointed to the traditional male role of sowing and reaping and the female role of toiling and spinning and suggested that life did not depend on these. He didn't disparage work, but he suggested both men and women could become so consumed by their toil that they were eaten alive by the very acts that were meant to enrich their lives. What is life about? It is experienced in right relationships as reflected in the kingdom of God and God's righteousness. It is not that wealth gained by labor is bad, but when it is so much the focus of life that it produces anxiety about tomorrow, it harms right relationships and becomes a false path.
