Matthew 6:24-34 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 6:24-34 on biblegateway.com
Verse 24"No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Verse 25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Verse 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Verse 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? Verse 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, Verse 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Verse 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith? Verse 31Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' Verse 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Verse 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Verse 34"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
Devotion
Life as a deployed soldier isn’t easy, but it is simple. Most of your decisions are made for you, and the ones you have to make are usually straightforward.
One of the most difficult adaptations for a soldier returning to America is learning how to multi-task again, how to operate in a very complex environment and make rapid decisions you haven’t had to make for months. When I first got back, I wore the same set of clothes for three straight days before my wife gently reminded me that I had a whole closet to pick from. “That’s the problem,” I told her. “I’m not used to deciding.”
We all have to decide between competing options with our time, our money, our loyalty and our attention. Whether deployed or home, you can’t be in two places at once, and you can’t serve two masters. When and how will you choose?
Prayer
Lord, sometimes we don’t see that we are choosing other things ahead of you. Expose our idolatry, forgive us and restore us again to your service. Amen.