January 8 - Matthew 6 - Andrew's diary

See Matthew 6 online

Dear Diary:

As I wrote a little while ago, I once followed John, the baptizing prophet. John was usually right, and he sure was when he said he wasn't fit to untie the Master's sandals. No-one is. At last I have met a truly holy man. There has never been anyone like him.

The events of the day were so memorable I have asked my fellow disciple Matthew to write them down for me. Matthew was a tax collector once and they are great ones for writing down facts correctly, if only so they know how much someone really owes before they double it.

But Matthew isn't like that, anymore. He is what the Master calls a son of the heavenly father and a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Master today continued to teach us about living in the Kingdom. As best as I can understand it, our lives won't look very different on the outside. We get up, get dressed, eat, go to work, earn money. We pray, we give to the needy, we fast. Most of us have been doing this stuff all of our lives.

What's different is how we are doing it, and why. When we get dressed, we don't worry about having fancy clothes or looking right or making enough money to keep buying the fancy clothes. According to Jesus, the flowers look just fine to God the way He has dressed them. And since our heavenly Father loves us more than these flowers, he will keep us looking just fine too. So we needn't worry about it. And we don't have to worry about what we eat or drink, because God loves us more than the birds, and he feeds them, too. Kingdom people have more important things to focus on than worrying about food and clothing.

My friend Forrest liked that part especially. As we were walking down the mountain, he turned to me and said, "He said we don't have to worry about money no more. That's good. One less thing."

As for the religious stuff - the praying and fasting and giving - boy did the Master ever poke the Pharisees in the eye for their "look at me" religion. He said God is invisible and we must pray and give and fast in secret. "Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." He said that three times. Makes sense doesn't it? If God sees and hears all, what do I care if people see my charity or hear me talking to him? But that's the Master's Kingdom - secret, but sensible.

Andrew

P.S. Even Peter kept his mouth shut and listened.