Luke 12 verses 25 – 26. “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
In this section Jesus enlarges on the idea of being “rich toward God”. And our Lord was wise enough to recognise the pull that “treasure” can exert on our hearts, which is why he says in v 34: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
So if you store up treasure on earth, your heart will be pulled in the direction of earth. If you store it in heaven – all your heart with its longings, goals and ambitions will be pulled toward Heaven. But heaven cannot be our treasure if we are not prepared to invest money in its interests. When we do give of our time and material goods, to the cause of God, Heaven becomes a greater reality to us.
Food and clothing are the basic necessities to keep life going (verses 22/23). If we live in fear that we will not have it, then that fear will indicate where our treasure is. Therefore Jesus says in v 23: “Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”
What does this mean? Well, it means that the main purpose of life is not simply to feed ourselves so we can stay alive. Life is more than that! It has been given to us so that we may first seek God (v 31).
Jesus is obviously not saying that we should be irresponsible and not seek to feed and clothe ourselves and our families. He is simply reminding us of our priorities. And Jesus guarantees to his disciples that if we refuse to adopt the values of the world and seek first his Kingdom our Father who knows we all need food and clothes will see to it that we obtain them. (verses 30/31)
Food and clothing here stands not only for the fundamental necessities of life but also as a symbol of all the “things” we can obtain in life. Coming, as it does immediately after the parable of the rich fool, it stands as a reminder that the things of life, even the basic things, are not our priority.
But there is more to say and we will say it tomorrow.