Luke 12:22-34
The Lord Jesus said that God had provided for the food of even the least varied of the birds, the ravens, which are wild, roving birds, always seeming to be hungry:
“They neither sow nor reap; which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them.”
God has given the ravens strong wings to fly far and find plenty of food. It is only God Who can supply food enough for people, and strength to get or eat it. Jesus asked the disciples,
“How much more are ye better than the fowls?”
“Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
We know the lilies and other flors grow wild in fields and by roadside, often in desert places. They cannot work for their beautiful petals, some red, some white, yellow, or other colors; they simply grow from the substances God has placed in the ground and water.
Yet the robes of the rich king, Solomon; made with great labor, were not as lovely, as the flowers. Jesus said for the disciples not to be anxious about what they will have to eat or to wear, because God knows they have need of such things. He said,
“The life is more than meat (food), and the body more than raiment (clothing).”
After Jesus was gone, the men and women who believed Him, worked to help each other, but their most important work and thoughts were not for food or clothes, but to tell people of Jesus as the Saviour. Sometimes men who did not believe in Him put them in prison and took away their food and clothes. But God knew their need, and that they suffered for love to the Lord Jesus, and He rewarded them with joy in Him, which they found far better.
Jesus said to give “alms,” which means what is given to help the sick, or anyone in need of necessary things.
And He said, instead of working just to have nice things on earth, those who loved Him, were to “provide bags, which wax (grow) not old, a treasure in Heaven.”
Men used strong bags to carry money or to hide it in, but those could wear out or be spoiled by a little moth, or be stolen. But what sort of a bag could be put in Heaven? Jesus meant whatever money or things anyone used for others, because they loved Him, God would know and reward them with better blessings of heaven; and no thief could take those, nor moth spoil.
Do you think boys and girls can put “bags of treasure” in Heaven? Do you ever have money and go in a hurry to buy a treat for yourself? Suppose instead, you said, “There are many boys and girls who have not heard of Jesus’ love. I will give this money to help send someone to tell them, or to buy a Testament for one.” God would see your gift and would reward you, it would be like “a bag of treasure in Heaven.”
ML 07/01/1945