Matthew

On Thursday Jesus said to look at the birds. Today He says to observe the wildflowers. And “observe” is a bigger word than “look.” It means to study something until we’ve learned from it. So what do the flowers teach?…

Yesterday it was the birds. Today Jesus asks a simple question. Has worry ever gotten us anything? Jesus asks what worry has ever built. The answer is nothing. Not one extra moment of life. The length of our life is…

Yesterday Jesus said, don’t worry about food. Today He gives us a picture. Look at the birds. Birds don’t plant seeds. They don’t bring in a harvest. They don’t fill up a barn for winter. And they still eat every…

Yesterday Jesus said nobody can serve two masters, God and money. Today He says what that looks like when money is tight. We’re not to worry. The last few verses were for people with plenty. This one is for people…

Jesus has been talking about money for a few days now. Where we keep it. How we look at it. Today, who we serve. “Serve” here means to be a slave. In Jesus’ day a slave belonged to one owner….

Jesus is still talking about money here. Saturday’s verse said our heart follows our treasure. Now He talks about our eyes. A lamp in His day was a small clay bowl with oil and a wick, and it lit the…

This one sentence explains yesterday’s verses. And it works backwards from how we think. We say “put your money where your heart is.” First love something, then spend on it. And that’s true. We do spend on what we love….

Jesus finished teaching about giving, praying, and fasting. Now He talks about money and stuff. Read both verses again. They’re the same command. Store up treasure. He never says treasure is bad. He asks where we’re keeping it. In His…

Yesterday Jesus talked about the show-off way to fast. The suffering look everyone could see. Now He gives His way. Put oil on your head and wash your face. In His day, that was normal grooming. In other words: look…

First, what fasting is, in case the word is new. Fasting is going without food for a while on purpose, and praying during the time we’d usually eat. Believers have done it for thousands of years. Jesus says “whenever you…