Interpreting Matthew 6:19-34: God Will Meet the Needs of His People

Christian's as well as people of all other walks of life, let money troubles put them in a position of constant worry and disbelief. In the Bible, Jesus directly addresses these issues in Matthew 6:19-23 and 6:24-34. Christian's let these issues trouble them even more because we expect God to keep us covered no matter what, but what we've got to be careful to not let ourselves get into a state of selfishness and obsession over our material things. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Issues regarding money are mentioned in the Bible quite frequently. The reason that money problems are mentioned so much is that it can be the most deceiving, treacherous, persuasive temptation of all. In the scriptures mentioned above, Jesus teaches us that the problem with people and wealth is that we become controlled or mastered by it when we make it the most important priority in our lives. We become enslaved by our love for our riches, wealth and material things, which is how a person comes to serve money or mammon.

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus advises us that trying to serve God and riches at the same time, just doesn't work. We will be loyal to one and despise the other. Christian's have to choose between serving God and serving riches. Now, to serve God absolutely does not mean to be broke and have money problems, rather to serve God fully, means to have your money issues under control at all times. If God wasn't going to take care of the financial issues of those who fully serve Him, Jesus would have never told us to seek His kingdom first, so that all of what we need will be added to us. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus illustrates the worthlessness of worrying about our financial and material issues by showing its unnecessary and unfruitful effects in our lives.

God is always mindful of our daily needs. Worrying causes Christian's to be distracted and preoccupied with stress and anxiety, which creates an environment that makes it harder for God's power to work in our lives. Fear of lacking is something we've got to overcome and conquer. In these scriptures Jesus teaches us how to live without stress or fear, in bad times like today. We are not to become distracted from the more important issues of life by worrying about small things like what we will eat or what we will wear. God provides for the birds of the air; are we not more valuable than they are? Worry doesn't produce anything whatsoever that is worthwhile. God promises to take care of our needs, so to live in fear of financial problems as well as other temporal issues, is to live as though God does not exist. Our Father in heaven knows what we need and will provide it for us.