Scripture Daily

Context No. 3841 of 4322 · Luke

Context · Reflection

Luke 12:29-34: in context

29“Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. 30For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. 31But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. 32“Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. 33Sell what you have and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Jesus addresses the anxiety that gnaws at us over the basic needs of life, what we will eat, what we will wear. He does not dismiss the needs as unreal, but reorders them: your Father knows that you need these things; seek his kingdom first, and these things will be added to you. Anxiety is answered not by getting more but by trusting the Father who knows our needs and by putting his kingdom first.

Then comes one of the most reassuring lines in the Gospels: fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. God is not a reluctant giver; it is his delight to give his little flock the kingdom itself. And so Jesus can call us to hold our possessions loosely, even to give them away, and to lay up treasure in heaven, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Freedom from anxiety comes from trusting a generous Father and from setting our hearts on treasure that cannot be lost.

Am I letting anxiety over daily needs rule me, or do I trust the Father who delights to give his little flock the kingdom, seeking him first and laying up my treasure where my heart is safe?

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