Cast Your Cares

“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?...Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”   Matthew 6:27, 34

Jesus addresses many things in Matthew 6:27-34; my focus is on the sin of worry. We often don’t call it a sin because we mostly see worry as something that shows we are concerned and care about someone or a situation, but when we don’t relinquish to God our cares and concern, they most often slide the slippery slope right down into worry and anxiety.

WALK AS JESUS WALKED

"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

 About 12 years ago I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis (degenerative disk disease). By the mercy of God, chiropractic care and monthly massages, I have managed to be very nearly pain free for all these years. But last August, I started to have some problems with my left leg and one morning I woke up and was not able to walk from my bedroom to the next room. The pain in my left leg was excruciating. It was a Saturday, so I was not able to see the chiropractor until Monday, and even then he couldn’t do anything for me, the pain and inflammation was too intense. He suggested a doctor’s visit for some prednisone. To make a long story short, after two rounds of prednisone, I still could not walk or stand for longer than a minute because of intense pain. My quality of life became greatly diminished.

 During this time, I started to seek the Lord regarding this matter. He spoke to me very quietly and graciously about my “walk” with Him. He gave me the Scripture quoted above. I started asking Him – how am I not walking “even as he walked?” The Lord answered that question and began showing me areas in my life where I was not walking as He walked.

 The Greek word for walk or walked in this verse is peripateo and it means “to tread all around; walk at large; live; be occupied with.” Basically, it means how you live your life, how you walk out your life daily.  Is it in His presence or apart from His presence? I began asking the Lord to help me walk as Jesus walked; to help me live as Jesus lived.

 The Lord started revealing areas of pride in my heart and a lack of humility. The pain in my heart became much greater than any pain I had felt in my leg.

 The Word says, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.  James 4:6, 10

 And just in case we missed it the first time, He pretty much repeats it again in 1 Peter 5:5-7 -  “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

 Don’t miss this – “God resisteth the proud…” I’m sure you remember - pride is what got Lucifer kicked out of heaven! This is no small thing. I remember saying something to the Lord to the effect – “God, I’m 71 years old and I have been a Christian for 47 years; how did I miss this?”

 Looking back, I don’t think I completely missed this. I just think God was taking me around the same old mountain because there was much more I needed to learn!

 Shortly after this, the Lord placed a small book in my hands, appropriately titled, Humbled, Welcoming the Uncomfortable Work of God.

 An uncomfortable work it truly is! But I don’t want to be in a position for very long where God is actively resisting me.

 I am learning that humility is the essential ingredient in relationships – with the Lord and with people. Scripture speaks extensively about “preferring one another in the Lord,” “esteeming one another as better than ourselves,” and there are many more, but I think you get the picture.

 When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, all of a sudden they realized they were naked; their sin was exposed – the sin of pride. Satan had tempted them with the promise that they could be like God. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5

 And God continues to this day to reveal our sin, my sin, of pride because of the damage it does to relationship! Adam and Eve’s awareness of their sin caused them to hide from God and the sin of pride still does that to us today. It separates us from God and effectively separates us from others, too, in the process.

 I thank God He is making me more aware of how this sin affects my daily life. This is a life-long school I’m enrolled in. I thank God that He hasn’t left me in that place of pride and I thank Him that because of Jesus “the goodness of God…. leadeth thee to repentance.” (Romans 2:4)

 My heart’s desire is to “walk even as He walked.”  And just exactly how did Jesus walk?

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:” Philippians 2:5-9

 There it is right there – the very fulfillment of the Scriptures we read in James and 1 Peter. He is our greatest example.

One of my humorous responses when someone is trying to teach me or show me something new is, “You can teach an old dog new tricks – it just takes a little longer!”

 I thank God He’s willing to spend my life teaching me. 

COME AND SEE

“And the two disciples heard him [John the Baptist] speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi (Master), where do you live? He said unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.”  John 1:37-39

 

This scripture is one I’ve gone back to time and again over the past several months, maybe even a year. I keep hearing Jesus say to me, “Come and see” at various times and in many different situations.

The first thing that strikes me in this passage is that Jesus turned around and willingly engaged with the disciples. They were just following Him and at that point, had not required anything of Him, had not even spoken to Him, yet He turned around and actively engaged with them. My paraphrase of what He asked them – What do you want? In other words, why are you following me?

It’s also interesting to me that they didn’t directly answer His question. I wonder if perhaps they didn’t know how to answer that question or even know themselves what they wanted from Him or why they were following Him. They didn’t even really know or understand who exactly He was yet. But what they said to Him, instead of answering His question, was another question – “where do you live?” I’ve pondered that a lot. What kind of question is that and why would they want to know? Did where He lived even matter?

But He didn’t seem to find this question strange. He simply said “Come and see.” He invited them to come and see. So not only did He willingly engage with them, He invited them into His world. In our world, we wouldn’t often invite someone we just met into our home, but He did.

And yet,

 

Isn’t this the invitation He gives us every day?

Isn’t this what He says to us every day?

Come and see where I live.

Come into my world.

Come and abide with me.

To me, this whole scripture is an invitation to abide with Him and in Him. I think much and pray much about abiding in Him. It’s where I most long to be, but it’s also the place I walk away from more often than not. I usually spend the first part of my day in His presence, praying, reading, seeking and worshiping, but then I leave the “secret place,” walk into the world and find myself sometimes forgetting what I just shared with Him and what He just shared with me. I walk away from Him and into the cares of my world, forgetting that He goes with me.

 Yet Jesus continues to invite me to “come and see.” He invites me to come into His world and dwell there with Him.  In all situations I face…running errands, doctor’s appointments, luncheon dates, shopping, interacting with people, difficult situations, etc., He invites me into His world as I walk through them. He is with me 24/7 and wants me to be aware of His presence. That’s the key – to be aware. He wants me to abide in Him through all my day so when I deal with difficult people, difficult situations, etc, I’m aware of Him and what He would have me do. I need to be aware that He is right there with me and is helping me via the Holy Spirit to handle all that is placed in my path.

 The disciples “came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him.” He wants us to come and see where He lives, where He sits at the right hand of God and dwell with Him, abide in His presence; have an awareness of His presence. He does not just come to us when we ask him; in fact, we have no need to ask Him, because He’s already there right with us, in us. We don’t need to pray or sing to conjure up His presence. His presence is always with us. What we need, what I need, is a continual awareness of that; an abiding awareness. I need to learn to dwell with Him.

 “Come and see” with me.