Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

One of the things that always interests me about man’s ability to rationalize is in how we base rationale not from our needs but from our desires. The reason I am bringing this verse to the forefront is the issue of God’s provisions. Man will look to the words sow, reap and gather as things they do not have to do to receive the favor of God since we are so much better.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Reading this verse correctly demands that you have a proper understanding of what God means in context as to what “all these things” means. Nowhere in the preceding verses does the scriptures address housing or transportation. The birds of the air makes nests for themselves by gathering natural resources and doing the work themselves. They can fly so they provide their own transportation.

Most of the conversations I have had with people over the years include shelter and transportation as items included in a long list of thing included in “all these things”. God did not promise a big house and a fast car. Man will by virtue of his nature add to list of basic provision be God said we are better.

God also said do not covet. These words of warning quickly follow the Lord’s Prayer. Do not covet or love money seen in passages about treasures of the heart. Be careful what you fix your eye upon, seen in passages about the eye being good or evil. We covet that which we look upon.

So man begins to build a list of things which he deserves not based on God’s provisions but on his own desires, his coveting. Like the bird of the air, he labors to go out and build that house and buy those things which he covets and believes he deserves. But God did not promise them.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then praise God for His provisions.

He has given you His righteousness by faith. Is there anything more precious?

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

How do we obtain a sense of self-worth if we are all equal? We have different talents. I cannot play a musical instrument so someone else needs to be the music director. I have faith but it is not enough for me to lead a mission team in lands where Christians are killed for carrying a bible. I have knowledge but not enough to obtain a doctorate. I have the gift of prophesy, but I cannot make people see things the way I do.

What does it mean to be one in Christ? Perhaps the understanding comes from this one word found in today’s verse which describes our identities. Nor. In Christ we can only be one is we lose ourselves to Christ. We have to become selfless.

We struggle with this concept in the world because the world is selfish. The world has self-interest. The world wants to divide and conquer. In the natural sense it is survival. Survival is an instinct as old as mankind itself.

Isaiah 28:5 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

It just never occurs to the world that there is something more important than survival.