Session 5
Matthew 6:19-34
Memory Verse: Matthew 6:33
Our priorities reveal what’s important to us. The things we value are the things we treasure. They determine how we invest time as well as money. If priorities are not in line with godly values, anxiety and stress naturally result. For example, people experiencing severe poverty have different needs than those who enjoy financial security, yet both groups can end up worrying about money. The key to overcoming worry lies in prioritizing a faith relationship with God through Christ. That’s a simple way of describing discipleship.
Discipleship cannot be limited to Bible study and prayer, although those disciplines are foundational. Being Christ’s disciple means living out biblical principles that find their basis in trusting the Lord. If we love and trust the Father, our values will not be wrapped up in material things, but in fellowship with Christ. As you dig into this session, examine your priorities, the things you treasure most. Ask God to reveal areas where He may not have first place in your life. Consider how you can help the adults in your Bible study align their priorities with God’s plans and purposes for their lives.
Common types of household debt include mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit cards. Debt is any money you owe a person or a business. Money experts talk about good debt and bad debt. They describe good debt as debt you can leverage to build wealth. Bad debt, on the other hand, is debt used to purchase items that lose value over time. Or, it is any debt you are unable to pay. Many people today are drowning in bad debt because of misplaced priorities. (PSG, p. 49)
On the mountain, Jesus’s followers continued to learn what it meant to be His disciples. He taught how one’s relationship with God affects everything from prayer to provision. Even their religious activities contrasted starkly with people who had religious pretensions rather than genuine faith. True disciples do not trumpet their devotion. Rather, they express their love for God and others with pure intentions and compassionate actions.
One instance involved giving to the poor. The scribes and Pharisees engaged in benevolence, but made sure people took notice and gave them credit. Jesus told His people to help others privately, with no desire for praise. Similarly, prayer is primarily a personal conversation with God, not a public display to gain attention. God sees private devotion and responds with blessings.
Jesus provided an example of how believers should pray. What we call the Lord’s Prayer (or Model Prayer) is a template for communication with God (Matt. 6:9-13). It begins by acknowledging Him as our Father. While this relationship is personal, we cannot presume upon it because His name-His reputation and character-is holy and transcendent. We confess Him as King, desiring the arrival of His kingdom and submitting to His will.
In proper prayer, we can ask God to meet our daily needs. Such provision not only involves material matters, but it also includes forgiveness for our sins. We should mirror that forgiveness in the way we treat those who sin against us. Consequentially, we can trust the Father to lead us in the right way and deliver us from the evil one.
Jesus gave one postscript to this Model Prayer. Our vertical relationship with Him must be revealed in our horizontal relationships with other people. Nothing highlights this principle more clearly than the issue of forgiveness. How can we request forgiveness from the Father when we refuse to forgive one another?
In addition to benevolence and prayer, fasting was an act of devotion corrupted by some religious leaders. They professed a form of righteousness, but they lacked its reality and power. Instead of advertising that they are fasting, Christ followers are called to do it privately. They should not seek the praise of people, but the approval of God.
If we have the foundation of a faith relationship with the Father, anxiety flees. When we prioritize Him and His rule, everything else falls into place. We don’t worry about material matters because our true treasures cannot be corrupted or stolen. Our values center on trust in a loving Father who sovereignly rules over all things for His glory and our good.
Read through Matthew 6:1-34 in your Bible. Make a list of what Jesus said don’t do, then list the things Jesus said do. Circle the actions that pose the greatest challenge for you. (PSG, p. 50)
EXPLORE THE TEXT
<1h1>Possessions (Matt. 6:19-24)19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Jesus warned His disciples not to store up for themselves treasures on earth. Scholars note the similarity of words translated as “store up” and “treasures.” Earthly treasures are always subject to loss. For example, the garments of biblical days were easy targets for a moth or another insect. Metal objects were destroyed by rust. Today, our storage units might be better, but our possessions still can be damaged by insects, rust, flood, or fire. They are temporary at best.
Everything remains vulnerable to thieves. The term break in literally means to “dig through.” Commentators note that many homes of Jesus’s day were plastered with mud, and thieves could burrow through a back wall. If we have a materialistic value system, our treasures are just as vulnerable.
Believers should place their treasures in heaven. In God’s presence, our spiritual wealth is secure. Of course, we don’t gather heavenly blessings by self-effort. By faith, we determine our values according to God’s kingdom. Heavenly treasures accrue as we live to glorify Him.
Most people assume that we invest our money in things we love. Jesus said the reverse is true. The location of our treasure determines the condition of our heart. If you want to change your heart, change what you treasure. By doing what is right, inner motivations will follow.
Jesus used the eye to illustrate the importance of proper perception. Through this lamp of the body, we observe everything around us. But it’s important that our source of spiritual perception stays healthy (or clear). We maintain proper focus when we see as God sees.
Full of light does not suggest that illumination penetrates each body part. Rather, it means that the whole body benefits. By seeing the road, we know where to place our feet. The sight of food enhances or suppresses the appetite and the stomach’s digestion. Every part of the body benefits from healthy eyesight.
Conversely, every body part suffers if the eye is bad, either through disease or damage. Jesus likened the result to being full of darkness rather than light. The term for “bad” can also be rendered “harmful.” The issue is not physical well-being, but keeping a spiritually healthy perspective and avoiding spiritual harm.
This passage appears in Jesus’s teaching about materialistic values versus spiritual values. In context, Jesus addressed the issue of one’s treasure and its effect on the heart. When the light inside us turns dark, that darkness runs deep. The Greek wording emphasizes the degree or extent of the darkness.
Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve two masters. Conflict between the two is irresolvable. Either we will hate one and love the other, or we'll be devoted to one and despise the other. Jesus offered this precept as an illustration of the person who tries to follow God while also building a life around money.
Jesus was not saying that money itself is bad or that all wealthy people are evil. The full measure of Scripture reveals the virtue of proper stewardship and provides examples of wealthy people who used the resources God gave them for His glory. Here, Jesus’s emphasis was on loving God preeminently, leaving all other matters in their proper relationship to Him.
Believers should focus on heavenly treasures rather than worldly possessions. If we love God supremely, we will serve Him alone-and experience His blessings in the process.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
25 “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you-you of little faith?”
Much of our anxiety comes from focusing on the wrong issues-allowing our “eye” to be darkened and distracted. Therefore linked one of humanity's natural concerns with what Jesus said earlier about values. Followers of Christ should not worry about your life.
Jesus was not telling the disciples to avoid planning for the future or working toward their dreams. He just urged them to avoid worrying about these matters. In fact, the Greek wording is present imperative, indicating a continuous action. Jesus didn’t just encourage His followers to remain calm. He commanded them to stop worrying now and for each day moving forward.
Worrying about physical needs is natural. In the first century, questions about what to eat or drink or what to wear had nothing to do with menus or fashion trends. They focused on basic needs for survival. But Jesus emphasized that human existence consists of more than food and clothing. Regardless of economic circumstances, every person should remember that life is about more than our physical stuff. We all have deep spiritual needs that will define our eternity.
Sitting outside, Jesus may have pointed out birds flying past. Regardless, He noted that birds don’t sow or reap or gather into barns. They totally depend on God’s provision because the heavenly Father feeds them. Jesus’s question about human worth emphasized that the Creator who feeds the birds cares for His highest creation even more because we play an active role in His redemptive plan.
In a nutshell, Jesus taught that worry gets you nowhere. His rhetorical question reminds us of the obvious: none of us can add one moment to his life through worry. Scholars point out the Greek wording can refer to stature, as well as age. Both renderings make the same point. People may fret over controlling their lives, but worrying is futile. If anything, anxiety diminishes our quality of life.
Jesus returned to the question about clothes. Just as God had fed the birds, He challenged His listeners to examine how the Father dresses the wildflowers of the field. Like birds can’t plant or reap, flowers can’t labor or spin thread. His use of humorous hyperbole proved how ridiculous it is for people to worry about things they cannot control.
In contrast, with God in control, wildflowers surpass Solomon in all his splendor. Solomon gained fame for his wisdom and his wealth. Yet, even on his best days, Solomon could not rival the simple beauty of a field filled with wildflowers.
God nurtures the grass of the field even though it could be thrown into the furnace tomorrow. Some writers believe this is a reference to using dried flowers and grass as fuel. If God cares for these temporary things of nature, how much more will He do for His children?
Ultimately, worry reveals a character flaw: little faith. It’s not that we have no faith, but that our faith is weak. We need to believe our heavenly Father loves us and will provide for us.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
31 “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
(vv. 31-32)
Since Jesus confronted worry six times in ten verses, we need to pay attention. Once again, He told His followers don’t worry. He reiterated His previous points about concerns for what they would eat, drink,
or wear.
People have various triggers for worry. Family, health, finances, conflict, and many other matters overwhelm us. These fill us with fear and apprehension. Whatever our problems, Jesus commands us not
to worry.
Jesus offered two reasons to avoid worrying. First, we don’t want to act like Gentiles. Jesus demonstrated love for all people: Jews, Gentiles, or Samaritans. In this instance, “Gentiles” was a general term for unbelievers. When we allow materialism to consume our lives, we are behaving like those who have no relationship with God.
A second reason to avoid worry rests in our heavenly Father. If we have a relationship with God as Father, we believe He cares for us and wants to provide for our needs. If we believe that He best understands what we need, we can trust Him to meet that need.
(v. 33)
The best antidote for anxiety is faith-based action. Instead of worrying, we should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Notice the key components of this command. “Seek” infers more than mere desire (as in v. 32). Here, it means actively going after something to obtain it. It’s not enough to crave something; we must pursue it. The qualifier “first” refers not to the first among many interests, but to the primary, superior concern.
Also, Jesus identified a two-fold object of our search: God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. As our Father and King, He sovereignly rules over every aspect of our lives. His benevolent reign extends to the smallest details, and we can trust Him with everything.
Seeking God’s kingdom also requires pursuing His righteousness. The apostle Paul understood the difference between righteousness based on human standards and the genuine righteousness of Christ received by faith (Phil. 3:9). Biblical righteousness involves a right relationship with God demonstrated by right behavior. Seeking God’s righteousness requires forsaking shallow attempts at religious ritual in favor of a right standing with the Father.
Praying Scripture
Matthew 6:33
Spend time praying Scripture using Matthew 6:33. Read the verse, then respond to these questions:
- · How does God reveal Himself in this verse?
- · How should I respond to what He reveals?
Example:
Confess times when you’ve failed to seek the kingdom first. Thank God for His grace and His willingness to provide for your needs each day.
(v. 34)
Using therefore, Jesus linked the two truths of seeking God’s rule and trusting God’s relationship. He again admonished His followers to avoid worry. While guilt usually is rooted in the past, anxiety often focuses on the future. We can deal with what’s happening today because we’re living it. The fears about tomorrow’s unknowns grip our hearts. While it’s wise to plan for the future, we should never obsess over it.
In reality, tomorrow will worry about itself. Many things we worry about will never happen, while others may arise. Worry has no power or control either way. Each day has enough trouble of its own. By focusing on living for Christ, we position ourselves to trust Him with whatever happens today or tomorrow.
CHALLENGE
Review:
Review these points from Apply the Text on page 57 of the Personal Study Guide.
- Believers should focus on heavenly treasures rather than worldly possessions.
- Placing too much priority on material possessions leads to worry and anxiety.
- Believers can trust God to provide what they need.
Highlight:
Remind adults about the “Key Doctrine” on page 54 of the PSG. Point out that today’s passage makes it clear that God provides all of our needs from His abundant resources, so we should trust Him-not obsess over material possessions like they belong to us or worry as if He will not come through when we need Him to move in our lives.
Discuss:
Encourage adults to read and reflect on the second set of questions on page 57 of the PSG. Allow a few volunteers to share their struggles and practical ways to trust God with their finances. (NOTE: Be sensitive to adults who may not be comfortable sharing about their finances or talking about money in a group setting.)
Pray:
Challenge the group to continue using Pack Item 9 (Handout: Praying Scripture in Matthew’s Gospel) to pray and meditate on Matthew 6:33. Close the session in prayer, asking God to give adults the wisdom and boldness to trust Him and to seek His kingdom as their highest priority in life.
AFTER THE SESSION
Send the group a text or email, directing them to think through the first set of questions on page 57 of the PSG. Encourage individuals who are comfortable to share a personal need they are facing. Commit to praying for those needs and challenge other adults to join you in praying for one another. Suggest that they be sensitive to how God may move them to be the “answer” to one of these prayers.
KEY DOCTRINE:
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. (See
Luke 12:16-21; Philippians 4:19.)
BIBLE SKILL:
Notice repeated words or phrases in a Bible passage.
Jesus referenced worry six times in Matthew 9:19-34. Identify each reference to worry and put them in a list. Identify the commands. Identify where worry or worrying is used as a noun and note how it is used. Write a summation of each point Jesus made. How do these statements about worry apply to your life? What steps can you take this week to overcome worry?
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