From some of the first days of many Christian’s experience, the Biblical principle in Matthew 6:28-30 really worries them. It challenges almost every aspect of what we were taught by the world. Most Christians simply ignore it because they have no intentions of applying it to their lives.

Mat 6:28-30 (NIV) And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies 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. 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, O you of little faith?

We can felt a real attitude of resistance toward this Biblical principle in Matthew 6:28-30. You may remember thinking that you just weren’t ready for this passage. Most Christians decide to move on and deal with it later. Jesus allows us to do that; but, as long as we don’t get it settled, we will continue to struggle with the righteousness of God. Why? We don’t have our breastplate of righteousness on. It is to empower us to care about others. Every time finances and what we consider necessities of life come up as an issue, we will seek money as our first priority. Our reasoning will continue to be that we have to have a job; we have to pay our bills; we have to have a place to sleep, we have to have food to eat and clothes to wear; and, all of these statements are true.

Let’s take a look at what isn’t true; we think WE have to get OURSELVES a job. We think WE have to get some money to pay OUR bills. We think WE have to get a place to sleep, food to eat, and clothes to wear. As long as we refuse to put our breastplate of righteousness on, our whole world will revolve around us, our problems, and our needs. It also revolves around us being the one who got this job done. Sure we pray and ask Jesus to work the circumstances around us so a GOOD job will be available to us. However, we zero in on us finding ourselves a job. But, doesn’t that sound normal?

Matthew 6:28-30 is trying to reason with us; it is trying to help us feel relaxed enough to go ahead and trust Jesus for taking care of our basic needs and problems. Jesus is saying to us that, if God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe us, O you of little faith in God’s love and honesty. The difference is Him doing it or us doing it. We may be able to get a job; but, did we get the job that would meet our physical AND spiritual needs. As usual, we have to always consider the principle: I can’t do anything without Him.

The next principle we have to accept is that Jesus won’t do what we need without us. It is going to be a collaborative effort, if we are going to get the job that is best for us AND THOSE AROUND US. Where we often go wrong is we do seem to accomplish these things without Jesus. We think we have successfully satisfied the necessities of life by means of our own efforts. It looks like we were able to break this principle of God. However, those things we sought, cease to be necessities of life. They become masters of our present and future.

In other words, we didn’t get a job, a house, food, and clothing. Instead, we got ourselves a new master.

Once WE get a job, a house, food, and clothing, we have no time for Jesus; or, we have very little time for Him. Ninety-five to one-hundred percent of our time is spent making a living. Even if we have more time, we have expended so much of our energy and creative abilities on our job so that we have nothing left to give Jesus. We just want to spend our time-off resting or playing.

Mat 13:22 (NIV) The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

In Jesus’ parable (an illustration of a natural event to explain how the spirit realm works) about a man who went out and planted seeds in his field. But, there were already seeds in the man’s field that grow thorns. If our heart is open to world principles and world training, thorns will grow in our life. We will have Biblical principles producing wonderful results; AND, we will have world results showing up too. PLUS, Jesus said that the world results (thorns) will choke it (Jesus’ provisions), making it unfruitful.

What are those thorns that make our life unfruitful? Jesus said they were, the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth that choke it, making it unfruitful. All those things we get by using our own human efforts rather than joining Jesus, end up choking out our benefits through Jesus. WE NEED THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS to protect us.