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First Things First, October 7
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Matthew 6:31
.
The Lord would not have any one of us be presumptuous, care not for
health, and make no provision whatever for a sustenance; but when He
sees the world taking all the thoughts and absorbing all the affections, He
sees that eternal realities are lost sight of. He would correct this evil, which
is the work of Satan. The mind, which should be trained to high, elevated
contemplation of eternal realities, becomes common, bearing the image of
the earthly. Jesus comes to present the advantages and beautiful imagery
of the heavenly, that the attractions of heaven shall become familiar to the
thoughts, and memory’s hall be hung with pictures of celestial and eternal
loveliness.
He sees the chambers of the mind filled with those things which defile.
He places God before them as the center.... He passes through the market
places, where everything is full of activity and bustle, and the voice of
the traders is heard. The lessons He gives in the dense crowd that gathers
to listen to His words are a warning from heaven like the trump of God
to break the spell of infatuation. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall he give in
exchange for his soul?”
Mark 8:36, 37
.
The great Teacher gives man a view of the future world. He brings
it, with its attractive possessions, within the range of his vision.... He
presents the actual claims of God and heaven. If He can fasten the mind
upon the future life and its blessedness, in comparison with the temporal
concerns of this world, the striking contrast is deeply impressed upon the
mind, absorbing the heart and soul and the whole being. He thus removes
the things of time and sense from the affections where they have had the
supremacy, and gives them their place as subordinate to the higher and
eternal realities. He invests life with the highest responsibilities. He shows
man that he must live to a purpose, separating from all life’s vanities.
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