Friday Finale | Take Care – Episode 9
Originally written September 7, 2011
posted here: https://forthesakeofthetruth.com/2011/10/07/take-care/
This week we have been talking about caring and the cares of this life. We have learned that we must care about certain things to a certain degree, but when something causes us concern that affects us adversely, then we have crossed the line to anxiety, which is basically fear. And fear is distrust in God.
I don’t think as Christians our problem is that we don’t care enough, but that we care too much. We carry many burdens that we were never supposed to carry. We reserve certain issues in our lives for us to carry while only bothering Father God with those things that “we just can’t take any more”.
But that was never meant to be. On Monday, we read the scripture:
1 Peter 5:7
7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. (Amplified Bible)
I like where it emphasizes ‘casting the whole of your care upon Him’, “ALL of your anxieties, worries and concerns”. Not just some, and not just anxieties, but worries and concerns too.
How many times have I heard someone say, “well I guess I’ll just pray about it. That’s all I can do”. So many times casting that care, going to God is a last resort, not the first refuge.
We have geared ourselves up to worry and to be concerned. In times past, the degree of your worry was an unofficial indicator of how loving you were or how much you cared about someone. A person would tell someone that they worried about them as if it were the same as showing them the degree of how much they loved them.
We have worrying and anxiety down to a point whereas as a society we must take medication to slow that boat down. The cares of this life have so overtaken us we cannot live the life that Jesus came to bring us, the life that He died to give us.
John 10:10
10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (Amplified Bible)
Worry and anxiety are the key things that the enemy is using to steal, kill, and destroy our lives. Jesus said that He came that we might have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance to the full until it overflows. We cannot entertain worry and anxiety and enjoy our lives. The two do not and cannot co-exist.
When was the last time that you could genuinely say that you were enjoying your life in abundance to the full until it overflowed? Does that describe your life?
So we must cast our cares on Him. We must exchange our worries and concerns for His abundant life. As we hand over our worries to Him, He will in turn hand back to us a joyful life. A life of abundant joy to the full, until it overflows. And why is it important that it overflows? So that it will overflow onto those around us, so that they can genuinely see and experience the joy of the Lord.
What a trade-off! We hand Him the things that worry us and drag us down, and in exchange for that He hands us His perfect peace and joy. So why then do we hang on to the worry? So why then do we hang on to those anxieties? Do we really feel that we are abandoning those that we are worrying about if we cease to worry about them? By placing them in God’s hands, we are doing the most admirable and beneficial thing for them.
So the next time someone says, “So long, take care”, just smile and say, “I’ll have a great day, but I’ll leave the care with the Lord.”
This study is a culmination of this week’s Monday Meditation and the Wednesday Word Study. By drilling down on specific scriptures and then specific words, we can gain a better understanding of the Word of God and therefore apply it to our lives more accurately. The Friday Finally episodes take both the Monday Meditation and Wednesday Word Study and pull them together for an overall teaching to equip and train us for a more godly and beneficial life.
This study is a culmination of this week’s Monday Meditation and the Wednesday Word Study. By drilling down on specific scriptures and then specific words, we can begin to gain a better understanding of the Word of God and therefore apply it to our lives more accurately. The Friday Finally episodes take both the Monday Meditation and Wednesday Word Study and pull them together for an overall teaching to equip and train us for a more Godly and beneficial life.
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Wednesday Word Study | Cares – Episode 9
