PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

Many Christians do not understand this section of the Word because they have not seen that it is based upon the divine life and divine nature. Even many unbelievers have quoted verses from these chapters in their writings, thinking that these chapters are words spoken to all human beings. No, just as the dog life cannot fly, so the human life cannot fulfill the requirements of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. This is a constitution based upon the divine life and the divine nature.

There is no anxiety in the divine life and the divine nature. Anxiety is not of the divine life, but of the human life, just as barking is of the dog life, not of the bird life. Our human life is a life of anxiety. whereas God's life is a life of enjoyment, rest, comfort, and satisfaction. To God, anxiety is a strange term. With Him, there is no such thing as anxiety. Do you think that God has ever been anxious? Has He ever been afflicted with anxiety? Although God has many desires, He has no anxiety. Our human life, on the contrary, is virtually composed of anxiety: it is constituted with it….

In His speaking in chapter six of Matthew, the Lord apparently is dealing with the matter of riches. In reality, however, He is touching the matter of anxiety, the basic problem of our human living. As we have seen, in 6:1-18 He apparently dealt with the righteous deeds of the kingdom people, but actually He was touching the self and the flesh.

I came to know this not by reading books, but from my experience in the church life. Through my experience I have learned that making a display of righteous deeds is certainly of the self and of the flesh. If we remain on the cross, we would never make such a display. In the same principle, 6:19-34 seemingly touches our wealth, our riches; actually, the Lord's intention here is to touch anxiety, the source of the problem of our daily living.

The whole world is involved with anxiety. Anxiety is the gear that makes the world move. It is the incentive for all human culture. If there were no anxiety regarding our living, no one would do anything. Rather, everyone would be idle. Thus, by touching our anxiety, the Lord touches the gear of human life….

Let us now consider the Lord's intention in verses 19 through 34. Does the Lord intend that the young people finish school, or drop out and be like birds in the air? It is wrong to have anxiety, for anxiety does not belong to the divine life. There is no anxiety in the life of God. However, the Lord does not mean that we should not do our duty. When the Lord brought the children of Israel into the good land, they all had to work on the land. That was their duty. Whether or not the good land produced a rich harvest depended on a number of things: the weather, the sunshine, the proper amount of rain, and the right temperature. None of these things was under the control of the children of Israel. Their responsibility was just to labor on the land. They labored not only for themselves, but also for the birds. If they did not do the work of farming, it would have been difficult for the birds to live. To do their duty was right and necessary, but to have anxiety was wrong.

Likewise, we must do our duty today, but do it without being anxious about our living. The reason you are so reluctant to give to others is your anxiety. Because of anxiety, you love the material things. If you had no anxiety, you would not care for the material things. Rather, you would let others have them. It is anxiety that causes us trouble.

In God's economy we all must labor. We are not like the children of Israel, for we cannot literally work on the good land. Instead, the young people today must study and acquire a good education. Studying is equal to tilling the ground, and graduating from college is equal to reaping a harvest. Young people, studying is your duty, and you must do it. In ancient times, the children of Israel had to labor by tilling the ground, sowing the seed, watering, and harvesting. This was their duty. But whether or not they received the harvest depended upon God. Their responsibility was to labor without having any anxiety. If they were anxious, that would have been an offense to God. There was no need for them to be anxious. They simply had to do whatever God asked them to do. For example, according to Deuteronomy, God required them to set aside one tenth for Himself, another tenth for the Levites, and still another tenth for a different purpose. They were not permitted to keep all the produce for their enjoyment. They were not to have any anxiety. If they had no anxiety, they could be generous, willing to give to others and put their material things into the hand of the Lord.

We need to read 6:19-34 in such a light. Under God's sovereignty, the children of Israel had to labor on the land. Under God's sovereignty, the young people today must study and finish school. If we are to have the proper church life, all our young people must finish college. Failing to finish college is like sowing without having a harvest.

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