I was taught that life was to make something of yourself…
As I read the Gospel of Matthew I felt drawn to these words “Take no thought for your life, what you will eat, what you will drink or what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and clothing?… It’s interesting in the Greek to see that the words”take no thought” (better translated “stop worrying!”) is a subjunctive with a negation. What it means is that this grammatical instrument is pretty much its the strongest way you can say “Stop!” in Koine Greek. It doesn’t come clear in the English but Jesus is asking…no…telling his audience to stop living life so focused on securing a life of material and aesthetic satisfaction.
That is a very strong challenge today. Society has the strong current that pulls everyone into the race for economy. Our works determine the power of our efforts and people who ‘fall short’ are marginalizied (or marginalize themselves) for the greater achievers. The garbage man has but little significance in the eyes of the public as opposed to the lawyer or the politician. I can see the point Jesus is trying to make and how it can greatly change things in today’s society. I am sure that, if we, as people took less thought, we will find contentment. The standards, or ‘points-of -reference’ made by society (heritage, ethnicity, scholarship, etc), which we often use to determine our significance will no longer exist. Yet, these artificial ‘standards’ do not define a persons worth, but contribute greatly to the destruction of our souls and (the souls of others) when we become highly preoccupied in them. Money, food, pleasures or achievements are all sought by all means necessary, to either alleviate the hunger of the soul, and becomes a misguided point-of-reference for meaning in life. Society has trained our minds to think in that matter. We live in a world created by men. This is the only reason for this fragile economic outlook.
Life as Jesus sees it is beyond what we have made it to be. I suppose that many are anxious, unsatisfied, and hungry for more of what the world has to offer due to our low expectation and outlook of what life is really all about. If life isn’t about these things, then what is it about? I was taught that life was about making something of yourself…
Taking no thought means that we’re not made to seek satisfaction in ourselves and in our efforts. That is due to the absence of holiness – knowing and living as under one who belongs to God. That is why Jesus says “Are you not much more than these?” Holiness is the key to contentment in the eyes of Christ. “See ye first, the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.” Why does he call them things? I suppose he treats it as insignificant as we treat ourselves on account of things and things must make room for holiness.
I was taught that life was about making something of yourself. Christ taught me that I was made something already.
_Blessings
Verum Unus 