CHAPTER 6
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew 6:1
It is human nature for us to want to show off a little. Meyer says, “We are all likely to put better goods in the window than we have anywhere on our shelves; and to show fairer samples than we can supply in bulk.” 1 To be seen or noticed by others is the Greek word theathēnai, from which we get our word “theatrical.” 2 So, obviously there was a great deal of showmanship with some of the religious folks in Jesus’ day. We are warned to be careful about this type of thing.
In first century Judaism righteousness or piety primarily focused on prayer, fasting and giving gifts to the poor.3 All three could be done with considerable flourish. However, Jesus tells us that if we do these things to be seen by others we will have no reward from our Heavenly Father. We see from this that there are rewards for the truly righteous. Such rewards are not just material but follow us into the spiritual realm. Barclay says, “To banish all rewards and punishments from the idea of religion is in effect to say that injustice has the last word…” 4 Barker and Kohlenberger hasten to point out that there is no contradiction with 5:14-16, wherein we are instructed to let our lights shine before men.5 The Lord can show us how to do that without attracting attention to ourselves but by attracting all the attention to Jesus.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full” (6:2). The sounding of trumpets is probably a figure of speech for sounding off about one’s accomplishments. Damon Runyon once said, “He that tooteth not his own horn the same shall not be tooted.” That probably sums up the idea that most humans have.
However, some commentators have tried to tie the expression to the thirteen metal, trumpet-shaped offering receptacles that were supposedly in the temple. Utley notes that there is really no historical evidence that these ever existed.6 Supposedly, the one presenting an offering could clang the coins on the metal to get the attention of those around before making a grand donation. It should be noted though that their offerings were not being made in the temple but in the synagogues and in the streets.
Jesus plainly calls such persons hypocrites. This word (Gk. hupokrites) is also a word from the theatre had has to do with “stage-players.” 7 These hypocrites have received their reward in full. The full reward is the Greek apechein. This was a technical business and commercial term that meant “paid in full.” 8
The Jewish people were commanded to give generously (Deut. 15:10-11). In the above passage we realize that Christians are expected to do the same. It is not “if” we give, but “when” we give.
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (6:3-4). My wife and I once heard of a young couple in the church who were having a difficult time financially. We decided to give them a nice amount of money, but we wanted to do it in such a way that they would never know where it came from. We managed to do that, and we were quite happy that we had pulled it off. In fact, the more I thought about them finding the money and never knowing where it came from, the happier I got. Finally, I could not restrain myself. I laughed so hard that I actually got down and rolled in the floor laughing. That blessed day I seemed to have fulfilled this verse along with 2 Corinthians 9:7, where God talks about a hilarious giver.
The matter of not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing was no doubt a proverbial expression signifying that the thing was done in secret.9 We should try to give that way when possible. However, we do not want to get our giving too complicated, but to always keep it simple and cheerful (Rom. 12:8).
The Father in Heaven secretly sees all the good works we do from our hearts. His reward, unlike the fleeting reward of humans, will last forever and ever. We should not assume by this scripture that all giving in the church was in secret. Acts 4:34-37 tells us that Barnabas once publicly gave the whole income from the sale of his land. On another occasion members once came and laid their gifts at the apostles’ feet.10
PRAYER
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. Matthew 6:5
Jewish people were very serious and faithful regarding prayers. They were much more regular at prayer than were the Greeks and Romans.11 Not only did the Jews pray in secret and at home but they had regular hours of prayer at the temple. They prayed publicly at 9 AM at 12 noon and at 3 PM. The hours of 9 and 3 were in conjunction with the daily sacrifices made at those times. At home they prayed the Shema and the Shemoneh Esreh.12 Many of the synagogue prayers were formal written ones and some are still used in the synagogues of the world today.
Since public prayers each day were done on a specific schedule, it was certainly possible for a person to get a position in the midst of the gathering crowds and have his prayer heard by all. The common position for prayer in those days was standing, with arms outstretched and eyes open.13
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (6:6). Commentators generally feel that the inner room was a storeroom. This was probably a secluded room without windows (Gk. tameion; cf. Lk. 12:24).14 In the first century, people also commonly prayed on their flat rooftops. Pfeiffer and Harrison say, “Private praying is the finest training ground for public prayer.” 15
I remember in my early pastoral ministry I had the habit of going into the closet, closing the door and praying for long periods. In the closet it was completely dark, so it was not so easy to be detracted from prayer. As I look back, those were very productive times of prayer and intercession. Jesus often went away by himself and prayed (cf. Mk. 1:35). However, we must not get the idea that Jesus forbade public prayer for he did not (e.g. 18:19-20; Acts. 1:24; 3:1; 4:24-30).16
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (6:7). Barclay says, “The eastern peoples had a habit of hypnotizing themselves by the endless repetition of one phrase or even of one word.” 17 We see an early example of pagan prayers in 1 Kings 18:26, where the pagan priests called on Baal all morning to no avail (cf. Acts 19:34). The ancients apparently felt that prayer should not only be repetitive but long, in order to attract heavenly attention. There have been a few notable examples of this type praying in our modern world:
A classical example was the harangue of Cardinal Cushing on the occasion of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. Mislabeled “a prayer,” it ran on and on for 17 minutes and 30 seconds. Even that was exceeded by Aimie Semple McPherson whose 31 minutes and 10 seconds of “prayer” before the Democratic convention that nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt the first time must have set some kind of record at Chicago in 1932. The scandalous length of such prayers was rebuked on that occasion by the humorist Will Rogers who immediately followed her and quipped, “Well, I didn’t know anybody could think up that much to impress the Lord in favor of a Democrat?” This remark touched off a full-fledged demonstration! 18
We should not decide that all long prayers are out of order. Jesus once prayed for the whole night (Lk. 6:12; cf. 18:1). Also, both Jesus and Paul sometimes repeated their petitions (Matt. 26:36-46; 2 Cor. 12:7-8).19
“Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (6:8). I remember one man who always took it upon himself to inform God about the details of the person for whom he was praying. We do not have to inform God, since our Father is all-knowing or omniscient. He knows what we need before we ask, but he still wants us to make our requests to him. In much the same way, our natural fathers desire their children to ask for things and communicate with them.
THE MODEL PRAYER
This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10
This prayer is often called the Lord’s Prayer but it might more accurately be called The Disciples’ Prayer, since the Lord gave it to his disciples.20 This prayer is a masterpiece of brevity, seemingly heeding the words of Ecclesiastes 5:2: “…let your words be few.” The prayer can be recited in less than 20 seconds. However, the prayer covers all the bases, beginning with appropriate praise to the Father, and the lifting up of his great name. In Bible times the name meant much more than it does today. The name had to do with the whole character and personality of God.21 We should note that the prayer has a corporate feel about it with the expression “Our Father.”
Next, he teaches us to pray for his kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth. We have already dealt with the importance of this subject in 5:3. This was the central message of Jesus, but a message we have apparently forgotten about in our day. The Lord wants us to pray about this every day. Our world is ruled by a usurper and a tyrant. Most people on this globe live in oppression and want.22 The Lord Jesus made this world with his holy word (Jn. 1:3) and it belongs to him by right of creation. We need to pray daily that he will cast the usurper out and let his kingdom and rule be manifest throughout the whole earth. It was Robert Law who said: “Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done on earth.” 23
“Give us today our daily bread” (6:11). Barclay says here: “…The first three petitions have to do with God and with the glory of God; the second three petitions have to do with our needs and our necessities.” 24 There is nothing in the natural realm that we need more than bread. It is said that bread is the staff of life, or the mainstay of the human diet. It is felt here that bread meant all things necessary to sustain life.25 Today “bread” in slang has the meaning of “money,” which is certainly needed to buy the things that sustain life. We see here that bread is in essence a gift of God, so we can never boast about earning our bread.
There has been a lot of discussion about the word “daily.” In the Greek language the word is epiousion. Some commentators feel that this word has the meaning, “bread for tomorrow.” 26 That idea does not set too well with the rest of the Bible. Utley feels that it is a Greek idiom meaning “necessary food for today,” or “bread of our necessity.” The word is only used here and the parallel of Luke 11:3, so it is difficult to know its exact meaning. 27 It is interesting that the early Greek church father, Theophylact, translated it as bread sufficient for our support.28
“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (6:12). Utley says here, “First century Judaism used ‘debts’ (opheilēmata) as an idiom for ‘sins’ (hamartias).” 29 Since all have sinned (Rom. 3:23), all therefore have debts. We owe so much to so many that it is almost impossible to add it all up. We have unpaid debts to God, to parents, and to many other people. We have probably forgotten all about most of these. Barclay says, “…before a man can pray this petition he must have a sense of sin.” 30 All mouths need to be stopped and everyone needs to stand guilty before God (Rom. 3:19). Our greatest debt is the debt of love and it can never be repaid.
The other part of this sentence is that we can be forgiven only as we have forgiven our own debtors. Here we might remember the great poem by Alfred Tennyson:
O Man, forgive thy mortal foe,
Nor ever strike him blow for blow;
For all the souls on earth that live
To be forgiven must forgive.
Forgive him seventy times and seven:
For all the blessed souls in Heaven
Are both forgivers and forgiven! 31
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (6:13). It is generally felt that the word “temptation” (Gk. peirasmon) means “trial” or “test” since God cannot tempt us with sin (Jas. 1:13). 32 Testing is not given to destroy us but to make us stronger. Job said, “…when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). We know how metal is tested to determine if it can stand the stresses and strains that it will later have to bear. In a similar manner God tests us before he uses us in his service.33 Such testing is good for us and gives us confidence in the face of trial. We can say, “I have been there and done that, and with God’s help I can do it again.” Young David had slain a lion and a bear as a shepherd boy and thus he had great confidence in facing the giant Goliath (1 Sam. 17:36). It is good that God will not let us suffer testing beyond what we can handle (1 Cor. 10:13).
This petition ends the model prayer. It might shock us to know that the doxology (often part of this prayer) was not a part of the original.34 Morris says, “This is lacking in the oldest MSS (in Luke as in Matthew), though it has considerable early attestation…On the whole it seems probably that it was a liturgical addition made early in the life of the church…” 35
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (6:14-15). Here, the Lord returns to the all-important subject of forgiveness. It is a divine prerequisite. Jesus has a lot to say on this subject (cf. 9:2-6, 18:21-35; Lk.17:3-4).
Forgiveness is a two-way street. If we are to be forgiven we must forgive. There are a lot of people who are holding grudges today. A lot of young people cannot forgive their parents. Some wives cannot forgive husbands and some husbands cannot forgive their wives. We need to stop right now and search our hearts to see if there is someone we have not forgiven.
FASTING
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. Matthew 6:16
Fasting, or going without food, was a common biblical discipline. Barclay says, “Fasting was a deliberate attempt to draw the attention of God to the person who fasted…to prove that penitence was real… It was not designed to save a man’s own soul so much as to move God to liberate the nation from its distresses.” 36 In the Old Testament there was only one compulsory fast and that was the Day of Atonement. It was a fast of both food and water. However, by the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had added two fasts each week (Lk. 18:12) and these were on Mondays and Thursdays. On these fast days they refrained from food but not from drink.37
We have no indication that fasting was practiced by Jesus and his disciples. However, this verse indicates that it would be practiced after his departure (cf. 9:14-15; Acts 13:2-3; 14:23).38
It appears that the Pharisees and others had made a show out of fasting. They likely threw ashes on their heads and faces. These were mixed with their tears.39 Barclay says, “They walked through the streets with hair deliberately unkempt and disheveled, with clothes deliberately soiled and disarrayed. They even went the length of deliberately whitening their faces to accentuate their paleness.” 40
From what we can see in scripture, fasting was also abused by the people under the Old Covenant. Isaiah has a wonderful rebuke and instruction regarding this (Isa. 58:5-7). Along similar lines, the church father Origen once gave this teaching:
Do you still want me to show you what kind of fast it is appropriate for you to practice? Fast from every sin, take no food of malice, take no feasts of passion, do not burn with any wine of luxury. Fast from evil deeds, abstain from evil words, hold yourself from the worst evil thoughts. Do not touch the secret loaves of perverse doctrine. Do not desire the deceptive foods of philosophy which seduce you from truth. Such a fast pleases God.” 41
“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (6:17-18). Again, Jesus here indicates that his followers would fast in the future. However, their kind of fasting would be much different than that of the Pharisees. They would do the normal things in preparation to meet the public. They would put oil on their heads and look natural in every respect. By this, no one would expect that they were fasting. The fast, like their prayer, would be in secret and the One who sees in secret would reward them.
HAVING TREASURES IN HEAVEN
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21.
Guarding precious items was a difficult thing for people who lived in a day before banks and, safe deposit boxes and insurance policies. People could put their money with the moneychangers, deposit it in a pagan temple or bury it in their houses or somewhere outside. None of these were really great choices. Money changers could get robbed. Pagan temples were supposedly safe since folks would think twice about stealing from a pagan god.42 However, there were apparently some renegade Jewish people who stole from pagan temples (Rom. 2:22). Buried treasure could be discovered and houses could be robbed. Most houses in this era had mud walls. The Greek word for breaking in was diorussousin. It literally meant “mud digger” or one who would “dig through” the mud-baked walls.43
There were other problems in guarding valuables. Such items usually consisted of these things – precious metals, jewels, clothing and food stuffs.44 We have seen that it was difficult to guard precious metals and jewels. Certain metals could rust away. Often wealth was tied up in elaborate clothing (Gen. 45:22; 2 Ki. 7:8; Josh. 7:21; 2 Ki. 5:22-23). Of course, the plague against clothing was that of moths. It was a day before moth balls, and fancy clothing could be eaten to shreds if left unattended. There were no metal bins so the mice and rats could make quick work of many grains and other stored foodstuffs.
Jesus’ advice is simply not to store up treasures. In the parallel account of Luke 12:33-34, Jesus advises us to sell our possessions and give alms with the money. Such an act would provide us with treasure that could never be destroyed. We see the early Jerusalem church members selling houses and lands and giving alms with the money (Acts 4:34-35). They did this from time to time and it was a precious offering to the Lord. The Lord makes clear that by such acts we can store our treasures in Heaven’s bank and they will never be stolen or destroyed. We cannot take it with us. Someone has quipped that we cannot even keep it while we are here. However, we can send it on ahead.
The Bible says, “Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble” (Psa. 41:1 NKJ). “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done” (Prov. 19:17). Jesus says in Luke 12:15: “…Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Morris comments, “Jesus points out that the place we choose for our treasures tells something about ourselves.” 45
HAVING GOOD EYES
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. Matthew 6:22
The word “healthy” is the Greek haplous. It is regularly used in the New Testament to mean generous and generosity.46 Other translations render the word clear, single or good. France says, “So the ‘single eye’ is primarily a metaphor for a life totally devoted to the service of God.” 47 Behind this statement lies a Jewish concept. They felt that the eye was the window of the soul.48
“But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (6:23). The word unhealthy is the Greek ponēros, and is used in the Septuagint Greek version as “stinginess.” 49 In ancient times many actually believed that light was emitted from the eye, rather than light coming into the eye.50 The stingy or grudging person ended up with a life full of darkness. How doubly tragic and doubly dark this was for one who was called a “Christian.”
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money”(6:24). As Christians, we are slaves or servants of God. Keener says, “Two masters rarely shared slaves, but when they did it always led to divided interests.” 51 We cannot serve God and money (mamōnā in Greek). In early times money or mammon came to be spelled with a capital “M.” 52 Mammon thus became a god. As the old saying goes, “You can’t dance at two weddings.” Neither can you serve two masters.
In the ancient world a slave was not a person but a thing, a living tool so to speak. A slave had no time to call his or her own. Absolutely every moment had to be devoted to the master.53 To some degree it is like this in the heavenly kingdom. Paul says, “…You are not your own; you were bought at a price…” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). We can never do only what we wish to do but what the Master wishes for us to do.
There is a real problem in the church today with Mammon or money. It masters a lot of Christians. The “Name it and claim it” doctrine is widely preached in the US. Many feel that there is nothing wrong with being rich and being a Christian, and that Christianity should even make us rich. Jesus taught that riches could be detrimental to the real Christian life (19:24). It does not mean that a Christian cannot be wealthy. However, it does mean that wealth brings great responsibility to use it for the glory of God.
The persons trying to serve both God and money will end up frustrated. Jesus says they will end up serving one and hating the other. The word hate is often used in the scripture to mean loving less.54 If we love money more, we will love Jesus less. If we love Jesus more, we will love money less.
The writer, Rabbi Daniel Lapin says, “Ancient Jewish wisdom shows us that the only route to wealth is in serving other human beings.” 55 One of the great mission stories is that of Charles Thomas (C.T.) Studd. He was heir of 25 million dollars from his father but that did not distract him. He and his wife did mission work in China, India and finally in Africa. In their work they gave away their entire fortune. When Studd died, some two thousand Congolese attended his funeral to show their great appreciation. He left us with these immortal words, “Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” 56
WORRY
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Matthew 6:25
It was the commentator Mounce who said “Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God.” 57 Many others have made statements about worry. Leo Buscaglia said, “Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.” Winston Churchill said, “When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.” Erma Bombeck said, “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.” The famous clergyman Henry Ward Beecher said, “Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” 58
The Greek for worry (merimnaō) means to worry anxiously.59 Worry makes us anxious and it does a lot to wear out the mind and the body. According to a recent study it is reported that 85 percent of the things we worry about never happen. In the study, 79 percent of the people discovered they could handle the difficulty better than expected or that it taught them something worth learning. The study concluded that 97 percent of things we worry about are exaggerations and misperceptions.60
As we mentioned, worry is a sort of disguised atheism. It is a matter of taking our thoughts off God who can provide us with all things. The scripture says, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you” (Isa. 26:3). He can and will provide for us according to his riches in glory as the scripture says (Phil. 4:19).
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (6:26). The birds of the air give us a beautiful picture of God’s loving provision. They do not worry and they do not sow, reap or build barns.
Psalm 104 is a wonderful testimony about all the living creatures of earth and how the Lord provides for them all. The Psalm says, “All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things” (Psa. 104:27-28). We need to take note that the birds do not sit lazily in their nests with their mouths wide open and waiting for God to feed them. Birds are fine examples of almost ceaseless activity. God provides it, but they are out there scratching it up and pulling the worms from the ground with all their might. God is much more concerned about us than about birds. But he expects us to exert due energy in gathering that which he has provided.
“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (6:27). This passage is a little difficult to interpret. The word translated “hour” is the Greek pechus which actually means cubit. In Bible times the cubit was the distance from the elbow to the longest finger.61 What is translated “life” here is the Greek hēlikian, which can be used either of height or of length of one’s life.62 Other translations read: “And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?” (NAS), or “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (ESV).
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied. “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” He continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.” 63
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these” (6:28-29). People worry a lot about clothes today and multiplied millions in various currencies are spent on clothing each year. Christians should not worry about such things because our loving Father God will see to it that we do not go naked. We have always heard that “clothes make the man” but the truth is that the Lord makes the man and the woman to shine with his glory if they only trust in him.
Jesus here makes reference to the flowers of the field which grew abundantly in the Galilee. Early in the spring each year the Galilee hillsides are literally covered with beautiful flowers. The most common are the red poppies and red anemones. There are many other colors of flowering plants each spring. These include masses of white, blue and purple coloration. Jesus says that these beautiful plants do not have to labor or spin to gain their brilliant and intricate colors. Yet, King Solomon did not have such wonderfully made and gloriously colored attire. Ancient kings mostly wore purple but at times they wore white (Esth. 8:15; Dan. 7:9).64
“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you— you of little faith?” (Matt. 6:30). When the warm weather arrives in the Galilee the beautiful floral displays all dry up and become a vast tinderbox. Often wildfires break out and burn over large areas in the summer. The dried up grass and weeds also made handy fuel for the baking ovens.65
If God cares so much about grasses and flowers think about how much he cares for all of us who trust in him. John Greenleaf Whittier wrote words to the hymn I Know Not What The Future Hath:
I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.
I know not where his islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond his love and care.66
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them” (6:31-32). Most people in the world today worry constantly about these things, but Jesus tells his followers not to worry about them. This is the Lord’s tranquilizer pill for all who follow him.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (6:33). Here the Lord brings us back to what should be the magnificent obsession of every true Christian – the kingdom of God. Coffman says that this is a divine appeal for us to put first things first.67
We have often mentioned that the kingdom of God was the heart of Jesus’ teaching. Somehow the church has almost forgotten about this subject. Jesus has taught us to pray for the kingdom to come with every petition we make. Somehow we need to make some changes in our thinking, meditating and praying. We need to make some changes in our church petitions and programs. God’s kingdom and righteousness must be put first. And this is not about our righteousness for the Lord is our righteousness (Jer. 33:16). Osborne says, “Strangely enough, when we get our priorities right, Jesus promised that all these things shall be added to you.” 68
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (6:34). No doubt, we are all familiar with the adage that we can only live one day at a time. It seems that Jesus is saying something almost like that. Each day will present us with enough challenges of its own. We are not to borrow trouble. “Someone has said that the average person is crucifying himself between two thieves: the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow.” 69