It is easy for a true follower of Christ to simply acknowledge that God will provide one's needs, as Jesus said in Matthew 6:30-34:
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.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
But, how many in the modern (true) Church really truly believe in this passage and heed it? You may dismiss those who fail to heed this passage, and for that matter, other passages you don't want to submit it, as those who are not true Christians.
But do you, you who are sure you are a true Christian, truly and earnestly heed the full counsel of God, including those which directly challenge and rebuke your desires, wants, aspirations, visions and pursuits?
Jesus had to rebuke His followers about money. Matthew 6:19-34 was a rebuke to His own followers that not only can one not serve both God and money, but that to even think about seeking one's earthly needs is utter faithlessness:
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?
(Mathew 6:25-30)
This is indeed a strong rebuke for even thinking, in the sense of setting one's minds on these things, to serve one's needs.
To even think that one should pursue one's "needs" is itself to be faithless, trusting in mammon, instead of God. It is a sin that is just as vile as blasphemy, as it is to utterly dishonour God. It is as a child saying that one's father that he cannot trust him because he will not provide, when he already has. It is not only to say that Jesus is lying when He said God will provide, but to call Him a liar.
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.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
But, how many in the modern (true) Church really truly believe in this passage and heed it? You may dismiss those who fail to heed this passage, and for that matter, other passages you don't want to submit it, as those who are not true Christians.
But do you, you who are sure you are a true Christian, truly and earnestly heed the full counsel of God, including those which directly challenge and rebuke your desires, wants, aspirations, visions and pursuits?
Jesus had to rebuke His followers about money. Matthew 6:19-34 was a rebuke to His own followers that not only can one not serve both God and money, but that to even think about seeking one's earthly needs is utter faithlessness:
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?
(Mathew 6:25-30)
This is indeed a strong rebuke for even thinking, in the sense of setting one's minds on these things, to serve one's needs.
To even think that one should pursue one's "needs" is itself to be faithless, trusting in mammon, instead of God. It is a sin that is just as vile as blasphemy, as it is to utterly dishonour God. It is as a child saying that one's father that he cannot trust him because he will not provide, when he already has. It is not only to say that Jesus is lying when He said God will provide, but to call Him a liar.
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