The apostle Paul is writing a letter to Timothy, his young son in the faith, to give him some advice about ministry. In this particular section of the letter he is warning Timothy about those in the church that are looking to benefit from their work in the ministry. In the previous verse he reminds him that godliness with contentment is great gain. To be satisfied with our current condition of material wealth and not to strive to attain riches will give us peace in our souls. In this verse Paul is reminding Timothy of the fact that we can take nothing material with us to heaven when we die, so to make the accumulation of riches our goal in this life time is a waste of our time. Jesus taught us "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Mat 6:19-10).
When we are are born into this world, we possess nothing and are completely dependent on our parents to provide for us and take care of us. As we grow older and learn the wisdom of this world we start to accumulate possessions and figure out ways to get more and more stuff. We become quite good at looking to our flesh and finding ways to feed its unquenchable hunger. In the process we become "self-made" men and women and decide that we are now able to take care of ourselves. As a matter of fact, it is expected of us to be independent, responsible adults who do not need anyone else to take care of us anymore. And when we get to the point of having a family we are expected to have the ability to take care of them as well. But is this biblical?
The Bible teaches that we have a good Father in heaven who takes care of His children. He clothes and feed them and takes care of all of their needs. We are to look to God for the daily provisions of our lives. The great danger is to be so focused and worried about meeting our physical needs that we lose sight of what is important spiritually and thus become self-centered rather than God-centered. Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness and all these material needs will be added to us (Mat 6:33). That does not mean we sit around the house and play video games all day, hoping for manna from heaven to drop into our laps. Rather we are to focus on what God would have us do that day and then be faithful to His calling. Whether it is to go to work and be a good and productive worker or serve in full time ministry, we are to depend fully on God to meet all of our needs. He wants us to ask for His direction and provision in prayer daily and then go through the day focusing on kingdom business.
Application
Lord help me to fully depend on you for providing all that I need each day. Help me to stop worrying about tomorrow and rest in your promises. Today, I will discuss with my wife areas in our life where I tend to worry about God meeting out needs and then pray together for the ability to fully trust in His provisions.
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