Worry-Free Living, Part 2

Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,
and he will give you everything you need.
So don’t worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will bring its own worries.
Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Matthew 6:33–34

Do you really want to live a worry-free life? I mean, are you serious about getting rid of those mental distractions and emotional drains? If so, these concluding verses in Matthew 6 offer the two passwords for entering that new mode of existence: priorities and simplicity.

Priorities
Put first things first. Each morning as you get up to face the day, tell the Lord, “Today, my desire is to seek Your will, Lord . . . Your righteousness. Whatever happens, whatever I encounter, may I be sensitive to Your presence and depend on Your strength. May Your kingdom agenda be my top priority, the most significant thought in my mind. This day is Yours, Lord.”
If I read Matthew 6:33 correctly, all the stuff you once worried about and fretted over will fall into place. As you care more and more about giving Him first priority, you will care less and less about the things that once “strangled” you emotionally and spiritually, thereby stealing your peace. Furthermore, who is to say that things are as bad as they may seem? I usually discover later on that good things were happening even when it seemed nothing was working out right.

Simplicity
Live one day at a time. You’ve heard it before: Don’t contaminate today by corrupting it with tomorrow’s troubles. Refuse—yes, refuse—to allow tomorrow’s lagoon of worries to drain into today’s lake. Today is challenging enough! And since you will need fresh energy and new insight to handle what tomorrow throws at you, wait until it dawns before taking it on. Some of the things you do today may seem totally insignificant so far as tomorrow is concerned, but stay at it.

Keep life simple. Do what you have to do today and, to your surprise, it may make an enormous difference in the world you wake up to tomorrow.