(Read 1 Peter 5:7 and Matthew 6:25-34)
1 Peter 5:7- “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
In this verse, the Greek word for ‘CAST’ is the word ‘epiripto’ which can mean ‘TO THROW UPON’. In other words, we are to throw upon Jesus all our cares!!!
In order to throw something, it means you have to LET GO OF IT. (Eg. In order to throw a ball, you have to let it go!)
So often what tends to happen when we try to cast our cares upon Jesus is that when we give it to Him, we still hold on to our worries/cares at the same time. We allow our situation to still keep us up at night worrying about it.
But to truly “throw upon Jesus”
our cares, means, when we hand it to Him, we need to INTENTIONALLY STOP THINKING ABOUT the problem!! We need to LET IT GO and trust that Jesus has our circumstance under control!!
Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 6
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?“ (Matthew 6:25 NIV)
What is interesting about this verse is that the KJV renders the phrase ‘do not worry about your life’ as ‘take no thought to your life’.
In others words, when you compare the NIV and KJV, what our saviour Jesus could be saying is that WHAT WE GIVE THOUGHT TO AND THINK ABOUT IS WHAT WILL MAKE US WORRY!!
So, the more we dwell on our circumstance, the more we start worrying about it.
But if we learn to hand our situation and it’s worries over to Jesus and at the same time stop dwelling on our circumstances and instead start dwelling on Jesus and how huge and wonderful and powerful and glorious He is (as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness- Matthew 6:33), this may go a long way to helping us no longer worry about our situation.
(Practically this could mean putting on more praise music throughout the day or putting on the audio bible, so that you are hearing the praises of how amazing and glorious Jesus is and the promises of His word instead of being reminded of your situation!)
PRAYER:
Jesus, when I cast all my
cares upon you, please help me to stop dwelling on my circumstance and instead seek you more and dwell more on how GLORIOUS and POWERFUL and WONDERFUL and MERCIFUL and LOVING You are!! Thank you for carrying my burdens and worries for me (Matthew 11:28-29)!! You are worthy of all the praise and glory Jesus!!
Amen.
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