24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

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?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

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

Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. - Haggai 1:6

A little bit of doggerel goes as follows: “A cheerful old bear at the zoo would always find something to do. When it bored him, you know, to walk to and fro, he reversed it and walked fro and to!” The writer apparently thought people could learn a lesson from the bear, for these creatures seem to be quite happy as long as they have enough food to eat and a few of their own kind around them.

This is not true of humans, however. The Israelites who had returned from Babylon discovered that man cannot find happiness when he lives only for himself. They ignored the fact that God’s temple had not been rebuilt, but gave themselves to the construction of fine houses and completely occupied themselves with materialistic things. Yet their harvests were poor, their clothing inadequate, and their wages did not keep pace with rising costs (Hag. 1:6). The prophet told them they were reaping a harvest of unhappiness because they were putting selfish pleasures first.

God has made us in His own image and for His glory. We can never find true joy until we obey Christ’s admonition to seek “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Only then will we sow and reap abundantly, and eat and truly be filled.

O the emptiness of life without the Savior!
Nothing worldly here can truly satisfy;
We can only reap a harvest that’s abundant,
Serving Jesus as to self we daily die.

Selfish gratification will lead to spiritual stagnation.

Throughout man’s history God was very clear of this one thing. In the beginning He made them MALE and FEMALE. He required this distinction to always remain and continues to this day to battle the spirit of this world to smear the lines and blur this distinction.

Audio by Larry Schoonover

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