It's the half way point in our learning thoroughly Matthew 6:25-34 and carrying our plants as well. I am a big fan of Jesus teaching style. Why? Because He never just says something once. He usually says it three times using three different examples or ways of saying it. Matthew 6 is no different. First the Birds and now the Lilies. And on this second example he goes a little bit further in explanation for those of us who didn't get all we needed from the first time He said it.
INFORMATION -
Matthew 6:28, 29 - And which of you be anxious and worry about clothes? Consider the Lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; (Read the comments from yesterday from Hayley regading toiling or spinning). Yet I tell you, even solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity and grace) was not arrayed like one of these.
MEDITATION -
So here's the deal. In order to understand the fullness of what He's saying I would have to look at Solomon. What was his magnifigance, excellence, dignity and grace? What does dignity and grace have to do with Lilies and birds? Learning thoroughly!
APPLICATION - This is a little bigger application than the norm so I will not be blogging tomorrow. I am leaving plenty of time for everyone to catch up if they need to and if not for some well deserved rest. Things to meditate on are Solomon's magnifigance, his excellence, his dignity and his grace. All the while keeping in mind the lilies of the field and how they grow. The benefit for this application is light for your plants for the remainder of this study. There will be a bonus available for the one who best captures this application. That doesn't mean in quantity of words or elegance in writing skills. It will be given based on the expression of the heart.
I think Solomon's Magnifigance and his excellence, dignity and grace are an example of someone knowing that in order to be a leader of such a vast kingdom and to be able to rule well he would need wisdom and knowledge. In order to ask for wisdom and knowledge and not riches or anything for just him, I think he knew that in looking to be a just and wise leader God would take care of his needs.
ReplyDeleteKind of like lilies and sparrows who do not sow or toil but God takes care of and provides for them. The sparrows anyway. The birds of the air when you watch them fly are magnifigant creatures. It would appear that almost no effort is used in flying and gliding through the air. It is something to see. To swoop in and land on a tiny branch, the feeder like it is no big deal. One can only aspire to have such grace and compadence. The lilies are a beautiful plant and take knowledge and wisdom to grow. You cant just take a lily and not pay attention to it. It is something that if you are going to do it it needs to be done right.
This has truly been a weekend! Several times I had tried to type up my comment and several times it was deleted! I had it all thought out and apparently it wasn't what I was suppose to write. Well.... as I meditated on Solomon's magnificance, excellance, dignity and grace it all came down to one thing and it all pointed back to the Lord! The Lord makes all things, he made the beauty in the lilies, he made the lilies, he made all of creation. All of creation is ever praising him!! Solomon knew to humble himself before the Lord. Lilies and the birds they know their place, they are humble. And we know the God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. When we humble ourselves before the Lord there he lifts us up to higher places.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about all the world has to offer and I was struck at the fact that all the world has to offer we interact with. The birds of the air, the lilies of the field, the ocean, the sky, trees of the forest, bugs, other people, animals ect. Some things we notice, some we do not. Depends on how we are managing our lives. I think all these things were put here for us to interact with or after Adam and Eve life would have been unevenfull.
ReplyDeleteSadly we do not take time to smell the roses as often as we should these days. Our lives are out of sync. We are to busy and what we think is important and what we think we are to busy to do is why we are worried, anxious, unhappy.
Maybe that is why we are susposed to take time to consider the lilies of the field. They neither toil or spin and yet Soloman in all his magnificence was not arrayed like one of these.
The birds of the air neither sow nor reap or gather into barns yet our heavenly father keeps feeding them.
The lillies of the field and the birds of the air do not have the ability to toil or spin, sow or reap to gather into barns. The lilies of the field have no intelligence, the birds of the air have limited intelligence. That being said God does not ignore them. Having been created in his image and likeness we should know that he will keep feeding us. It is a matter I think of acting on what you know, or maybe the confidence to act on what you know. I am working on the confidence part.
I have been thinking about this all weekend. What I've come up with is that Solomon's splendor and magnificence that Christ was referring to was his wealth, accomplishment, and wisdom. Nothing compares to when we let God clothe us. When we stop trying to put on pretty things and just let the Holy Spirit clothe us in the way we were meant to be clothed. Humility, that has to be the major key in not worrying. Because when you give up control and say ,"its out of my hands and i let it go to You, God." Thats where your worry should end. Because if you truly trust God with everything then you should know he will take care of you. I think so often I get caught up with how things will turn out. I will let God move but only to a point in which I have confidence that something will work out for me.
ReplyDeleteIf you read Ecclesiastes you see that Solomon truly understood this. That HE could do all these things but in the end if God wasn't a part of it his life had no real purpose. The lily is truly the wisest because it knows it will be taken care of. Why because it was born therefore whatever happens to it is in God's hands. As we are also born in Christ we are also in his hands. What a comforting thought. Selah...
The first thing that sticks out to me is the splendor of Solomon. He himself loved decadence, his temple was probably one of the most exquisite buildings ever built. Ultimately his heart was for God and the glory He built here on earth was an offering to God. Then there's the lilies, which the Word also states is clothed in splendor. Solomon in all his greatness, with all his wisdom, was still a lily of the field. How humbling! It's amazing to think that God counts us in the same category as Solomon! And just like He clothed Solomon, and cared for Solomon, He's going to take care of us! :D
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