Psalm 8: Verse 3 (NIV UK Translation)
What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
Matthew Chapter 6: Verses 25-26 (NIV UK Translation)
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Some people are worriers about everything. Its easy to be concerned about things, after all we have come through a world-wide pandemic and the UK went into a recession and a cost-of-living crisis. Its understandable to be anxious, but we need to be careful about our priorities. Are we trying to keep up with the Jones’, are we concerned about our image? Jesus says that these things, these reasons are not important. It’s reassuring to hear Jesus remind us that God knows what we need. So when we do get anxious He is the one we need to go to. And the other lovely thing that struck me today in these verses is that we are valuable to God. We might feel that in the grand scheme of things we are insignificant, especially if we are struggling, or if we feel alone or misunderstood. But we are important to God, all of us, without exception. So important that Jesus was willing to substitute His life for ours.
Jesus reminds us too that our lives are more important than acquiring possessions, so let’s make sure we don’t get too caught up with “stuff”. People will always be more important – thank God for that!
And He is always at our elbow, day or night. We are never abandoned by Him.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for reminding me that people are valuable to You, and therefore we can bring everything that makes us anxious to You. Help me to remember that when I am dealing with people too – that I am interacting with someone else who is equally important to You, no matter who they are. And thank You Jesus for making access to God as my Father possible through the work of the cross. Amen.