Matthew sat in a class taught by Jesus and wrote to tell about it. This is what he remembers Jesus saying about it.

Matt 6:19-33

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Verse 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Verse 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

But seek first His kingdom. That is easier said than done. What does it even mean?  

Luke too was taught by Jesus. This is what he remembers.

Luke 9:23-25 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?

You must set God first in your life is what He means.

Luke remembers more.

As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62

Matthew and Luke both describe this very high calling of forsaking all to follow Christ. Matthew, you may recall was a tax collector. When Jesus called him, he got up from his table and left. Luke was a doctor. The details of his calling are not given but we see him traveling around with Paul in the Book of Acts. All the disciples were confronted with this message. How did this work out for them?

Paul wrote about his personal experience with it in a letter to the Philippians.

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:2-8)

His experience doesn’t sound like a bank hold up experience where someone put a gun to his head and told him to empty his pockets. “whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss…as rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” He found something better than what was in his pockets.

Peter and John you recall were in business together. They were confronted with leaving a very profitable fishing business. We know it was profitable because they had hired servants to help them.

How did these men reach a point of surrender in their finances so that they could follow Jesus?

Well, the Bible shows us how and I think this is very important to see.

I had to study the Bible to see it. And by study I don’t mean reading the Bible; I mean read and study. I mean become very familiar with what is there and what it all means. I had help.

Thomas and Gundry wrote a book called Harmony of the Gospels. It lists all the events in the Life of Christ in chronological order. There are 259 events from the time of His birth to the time of His death, burial, and resurrection. I noticed something interesting here when you line up all the events on a timeline like this.

HANDOUT – Here is a timeline that generally speaking covers 3 years of the ministry of Jesus. Event 31 is actually the very beginning of Jesus ministry; this is right after John baptizes Him. John the Baptist had been preaching for 6 months; so 0-31 basically represents 6 months on this timescale. And generally speaking the next 31 events cover another 6 months and so on.

.

Do you see how Jesus takes care of His disciples? Do you see how He means what He says when He says,

“Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17.

Where are you at on this timeline when it comes to trusting God?

Do you believe that Jesus will make you into His disciple?

Do you think that might involve some experiences that stretch you from time to time like we see in the Gospels?

Will you surrender? Will you surrender, not because God puts some sort of gun to your head, but because He offers you life, abundant life when you do?

Even though the economy is bad, even though the government is crumbling, even though interest rates are high, even though unemployment is going up, can you surrender and trust the One who owns it all to see you through?

Psalms 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.