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Seek First the Kingdom of God

15. Therefore, I say to you: Do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat and drink; not even for your body, for what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? And what shall it profit a man, if he would gain the whole world but lose his life

16. Look at the birds in the air: they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father nourishes them. Are you not cared for much better than they? But who among you could add one cubit to his life span, if he wanted to? And why are you so concerned about your clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. And yet, I say to you, even Solomon in all his splendor and glory was not arrayed like one of these.

17. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is burnt in the oven, should He not much more clothe you, O you men of little faith?

18. Therefore, you should not be anxious and ask: What will we eat? What will we drink? Or: What will we wear? (As the Gentiles do.) For your heavenly Father knows that you need all that. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be concerned about the evil of tomorrow. It is enough that each day has its own evil. (Chap. 26:15-18)

Christ explains, corrects
and deepens the word:

The person who worries about his personal life, about his well-being – for example, what he will eat and drink or clothe himself with tomorrow – is a poor planner; because in so doing, he thinks only of himself, of his own well-being and of his possessions. With this, he also plans in his pain and woe at the same time.

On the other hand, the one who fulfills the will of God is a good planner. He will plan both his days and his future. However, he knows that his planning is only a projection that rests in the hands of God.

He puts his plan in the hands of God and works with the powers of God, letting himself be guided by God during the events of the day. For he knows that God is the all-knowing Spirit and the wealth of his soul. The person who entrusts himself to God, who places his day’s work into the light of God and fulfills the law “pray and work” will receive his just reward. He will have everything that he needs.

If God, the Eternal, adorns nature and clothes the lilies of the field, how much more will He feed and clothe His child who fulfills His will! Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, but plan and commit your plan to the will of God – and God, who knows your plan, will fulfill what is good for you.

I give you an example: A good architect will carefully plan a house and pay attention to all the details. Once he has finished his plan, he will check it again and will then submit it to be looked over by the client who commissioned the building. If the latter agrees to the plan, then the workmen will work according to it. The architect and his client will supervise the execution of the plan and will interfere only when something does not conform to the planning.

You should lead your life in a similar way. Plan each day and plan well! Allow yourselves time for some hours of reflection, too, in which you can find the inner stillness to think over your life and your planning again and again. With His will, God will also penetrate a carefully made plan of the day that has been placed in His will. The one who carries out his plan in this way need not worry about tomorrow. His belief in the guidance of God consists of positive thoughts; from these emerge positive words and law-abiding actions. Positive thoughts, words and actions are the best tools, because the will of God is active in them. This means that the will of God, His Spirit, is at work in every positive thought, in every selfless word, in every selfless gesture and deed. God will give the good planner all that he needs and beyond that.

Only the one who does not entrust himself to God, who lets the days slip by and does not use them, worries about tomorrow. The person who lives from day to day and then blames his neighbor when he fails in many things, when he is sick, when he goes hungry, when he cannot acquire what he needs for his daily life – is not a good planner. He is an anxious and egocentric person who attracts what he does not want and what he fears. The person who does not plan the hours, days and months with God’s help and does not place his plan and himself in the will of God cannot be guided by God. Only the one who entrusts his daily work to God and conscientiously fulfills the commandment “pray and work” can be guided by God and is filled by Him – he is filled with love, wisdom and power. This means that his vessel, his life, is filled with trust and faith in God.

People in the Spirit of God will not live in want. They are good planners, they are strong in faith and work with the powers of the Spirit. Only the anxious person is concerned about himself, about his small ego. He worries about tomorrow, because he is not secure in God and does not believe in God’s wisdom and love. With this, he unconsciously opens the barn for the thieves who come and steal. He will lose what he has seized and hoarded for himself personally.

From the hands of God, people receive food, shelter and clothing. The one who places his life, his thinking and his work in the hands of God need not worry about tomorrow. He will have what he needs today, tomorrow and in the future – and beyond that.

And so, whoever lives in the inner kingdom will not live externally in want, either. However, the one who is poor in his inner being will live externally in want. If today he lives externally and increases worldly wealth for himself, keeping it for himself personally, then he is poor in his inner being and will live in want in another earthly garment, that is, he will be poor.

Therefore, strive first for the Kingdom of God and His justice, then God will give you everything you need and beyond that. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns; and yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.” Nature in all its diversity is clad more beautifully than the richest of the rich. The one who thinks only about his well-being and his full barns will earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, either in this earthly existence or in another incarnation – as long as this is still possible.

The right “pray and work” means to work for oneself and for the common good. Recognize: The lilies of the field – all of nature – are there for all people and give themselves to them in the most manifold ways. The one who is able to understand and appreciate this will not have to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. He will fulfill the law “pray and work” – for himself and for his neighbor.

And if it is written “they neither toil nor spin,” this means that a person should not think solely of himself and work only to gain profit for himself alone, so as to adorn and display himself with it.

Recognize: All Being is in the care of God. Animals, trees, plants, grasses and stones are in the care of God. They are in the midst of an evolutionary life that is guided by the eternal Creator-God. Since all life comes from God, the animals, trees, plants, grasses and stones also sense and feel. They experience in themselves the evolutionary force of the Creator that invigorates them and leads them to further unfoldment in the cycle of divine aeons. The Creator-power, the eternal Being, gives the nature kingdoms what they need. The gifts of life flow to the life forms to the same extent as these have spiritually unfolded.

The eternal Father remembers every blade of grass. How much more does the Eternal remember His children who have already unfolded in themselves the evolutionary steps of the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms! The children of God bear in themselves the microcosm from the macrocosm and are thus in communication with all of infinity.

But how poor is the person who worries about tomorrow! He shows that he has not yet come to terms with yesterday, since he is unable to live in today, in the now, that is, in God.

The inner being of a person, the pure Being, is the quintessence of infinity. Whoever grasps this as a human being looks to within and unfolds the laws of life, so that he is able to see all things external in the light of truth.

Recognize: Infinity serves the person who thinks and lives in an all-encompassing, that is, unlimited, way. People in the spirit of love are not self-centered, but all-conscious. They are in constant communication with the forces of God in all Being. Whatever they do, they do from within, with the power of love. They plan and work according to the commandment “pray and work” and do not waste the day. They know the inestimable value of the day, the hours and the minutes, and make use of the time.

Therefore, the one who truly lives does not worry about tomorrow; already today, he receives what he will have tomorrow. For the one who lives in God will not be in want, neither today nor tomorrow. But the one who stays anxious and clings to his belongings will be poor tomorrow.

However, the one who sees himself as a cosmic being, who fulfills the will of God without reservation, attains wisdom and strength. The life of the person who is filled with love and wisdom is permeated with the power of God. He will lack nothing. But whoever worries about tomorrow and sees a gloomy future attracts evil; and he will have his burden every day.

And so, do not think anxiously about tomorrow! Plan with God’s strength – and let the Eternal be effective through you. Then your thoughts are positive magnets that attract, in turn, what is positive and constructive. For thoughts, words and deeds are magnets. According to their kind, they attract, in turn, the same or like thing.

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