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From start to finish, the thrust of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount was that God's way of living contradicts the world's way. If you want to live for God, He warned, you must be ready to say and do what seems strange to the world. His first-century words about what people work for read as if they were specifically spoken for the benefit of our consumer-driven age.

Matthew 6:19-21, Matthew 6:25, Matthew 6:31-33

1. What is the answer to Jesus' question in verse 25b? What else is there?
2. Why don't we need to be preoccupied by these things, according to verses 26-30?
3. What are typical "treasures" for upwardly mobile people in our society?
4. Why did Jesus say that majoring on accumulating these things is a mistake?
5. Verse 21 says that our thoughts will gravitate toward whatever our treasure is. How can we shift our focus, according to verses 20 and 33?
6. What is the divine guarantee (v. 33) for those who make following His will their priority?

Ask God to help you trust Him for your basic needs and to keep your focus on Kingdom concerns.

19 Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.

25 So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing?

31 So don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. 32 Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, 33 and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me to hold my belongings loosely so that I'm not diverted from Your Kingdom priorities.

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