Luke 12:29

Jesus said in Luke 12:29-30, “And seek not you what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be you of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knows that you have need of these things.” In this passage in Luke chapter 12 Jesus is emphasizing to His believers the fact that they can have confidence in God to supply their needs. Paul learned this lesson and tried to pass it on to those that he taught. Paul said, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This is a great benefit and advantage to believers for them to live in a mental state of peace and security. The unbelievers do not have such a benefit, and therefore they make too great of an emphasis on the seeking of material things.

Jesus made it very clear what a person should seek first of all. He said in Luke 12:31, “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” If we have our priorities right, things will fall into place. The real problems start happening when we get our priorities messed up. If you seek what you are supposed to seek: the knowledge of God through Christ, then you will find what you are supposed to find, and you will be content and secure. If your priorities are out of place, then you will seek something other than God first of all, and you will never be secure or satisfied and you will never become what you could become as a person.

Jesus said in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” We can be assured that God will take of us, not because of who we are, but because of who God is. God keeps His promises. God is a gracious and giving God. He is going to share His kingdom with us in eternity, so certainly He will give us what we need in this life before we get to His kingdom. Paul said something similar in Rom. 8:32 that says, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

In Luke 12:32 Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock.” We do not need to fear the future or the present or anything that might happen because God will take care of us. He probably called us “little flock” in order to remind us that He is our shepherd. What does a shepherd do for a flock of sheep? Among other things a shepherd protects the flock from danger, leads the flock safely to where it should go, and makes sure the flock is well-fed and watered. We have someone who is much better than a shepherd of sheep. We have the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd. “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.”

In Luke 12:33-34 Jesus said, “Sell that you have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fails not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” For any treasure that you accumulate on earth, there is always the possibility that you will lose it. You might lose your treasure because of thieves. You might lose the things that you treasure because of the principle of corruption in this world. Things tend to fall apart and break down. If you have treasure in this world, you are going to lose it one day. If not by a thief, and if not by corruption, then certainly by death. You will not take your treasure with you when you die.

Hopefully you will have treasure waiting for you in heaven. Jesus said that the way to make sure you have some treasure in heaven is to sell some of your treasure on earth and give it for a good cause. There is nothing wrong with the acquiring of material things as long as you understand that one purpose for doing so is to take some of your possessions and use them, not for yourself, but for others. God is a giver, and He wants His children to be givers also. “God loves a cheerful giver.”

Believers in Jesus have heard this teaching of Christ. They have been taught the importance of generosity by the Spirit of God who works in their hearts. Over the centuries the most generous of people have always been Christians. A believer who understands what material things are all about is always looking for the leading of the Lord in what to do with his or her substance. What we have has been given to us by God, and we know that it has been given to us for a reason. We know that we own nothing. We are simply caretakers. In order to be good stewards of what God has placed into our hands, we are ready and willing to use our possessions for the spread of the Gospel, for the glory of God, and for relieving the suffering of those who need help in this world. Any of us on any given day may be in the situation where Christ is speaking to us when He said, “Sell that you have and give alms.” The materialistic people of the world are only motivated by the impulse to acquire as much as they can whenever they can, but believers in Jesus are ready and willing to sell their substance if necessary for the cause of Christ.

Jesus said to give “alms.” What does it mean to give alms? The answer can partly be explained by knowing that this word in the Greek comes from a word that means mercy and compassion. When Jesus said to give alms, He is not talking so much about what we give but why we give. If you see something and your merciful and compassionate impulses are touched, and you dig down and give to relieve and to meet the need that you see, then you are giving alms. The emphasis in the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of the rest of the New Testament is not how much you give, but why you give. Do you give, and when you do give, what motivates you to give? “Whoso has this world’s good, and sees his brother have need and shuts up his innermost feelings of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him?”

You may have heard sermons given by human beings in our day and time who emphasize the importance of giving a tithe, which is ten percent. Jesus certainly did not teach against giving a tithe, but He did not emphasize it either. What He emphasized was the attitude of people when they give: what motivates people to give or not to give. Some people give in order to be seen of men. Such people would be better off if they did not let their left hand know what their right hand was doing.

In the teachings of Jesus there are many warnings against materialism. There was the rich, young ruler who did not become a follower of Christ because of the love for material things. There was the foolish rich man who we just finished reading about in this chapter. He died only acquiring things, and never giving. The person that Jesus praised the most in the Gospels for what was given was not rich, but was very poor. Jesus praised the widow for the small amount that she gave, because even though she gave a very small amount, it was all that she had. She did not give ten percent. She gave one hundred percent. The reason that she was praised by Jesus was undoubtedly why she gave, and certainly not how much she gave. How compassionate you are in giving to help meet the needs that you see, will be a great indicator of your true spiritual condition.

If you never give of your possessions, according to this teaching of Christ, it may very well be an indicator of a major spiritual problem and of misplaced priorities. We should desire and value God and His Kingdom more than anything else. It’s what in our heart that counts, but what is truly in our hearts will be evidenced by what we do. That’s why Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Another major evidence of what are your priorities concerns what you are hoping for and what you are looking forward to in the future. What is the one, great event of the future that you are looking forward to in order to finally see all of your dreams realized? Please do not say retirement or becoming a millionaire. Jesus said that the great event that His children should always be looking forward to is His return to the earth, His Second Coming. Jesus said in Luke 12:35-40, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he comes and knocks, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth to serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be you therefore ready also: for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not.”

We who believe in Jesus look forward to the Second Coming because we know that it will be the final and complete realization of all of our hopes and dreams. That’s why the acquiring of material things does not have the same importance as it does to many people who do not believe in Jesus. As we wait for Jesus to return, what should we be doing? Should we go to the top of a mountain and pray until He returns? No, because we might have a long wait. The rapture might happen today, but He also might not return for hundreds of more years. The key instruction in this passage of what we should be doing while waiting is found in Luke 12:35 where Jesus said, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning.”

The phrase “let your loins be girded about” speaks of being prepared for the task at hand. It’s consistent with what Paul said in Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” There is a spiritual challenge to life. The forces of evil struggle against the forces of good. The goal is to survive and stand strong in the face of this challenge. In order to do so, we must be prepared. A wise person gets prepared for what lies ahead. Until Christ returns, what is going to happen to each of us is the trial of our faith. I do not know what your specific trials will be, but basically it will be the trial of your faith. If your faith is strong enough you will be able to face any trial. God desires to prepare us for the future. We can enter into what He is doing by understanding the importance of Jesus telling us, “Let your loins be gird about.” Notice that Jesus said, “Let.” We are God’s workmanship. He will arrange our circumstances to properly challenge our faith so that it will grow. But we must “let” certain things happen. We must not resist them by our own will. Some people do not grow in faith because their own will keeps getting in the way. God will also give us opportunities to feed upon His Word and grow in the knowledge of His Word. “Faith comes by understanding, and understanding by the Word of God.” Wise is the person who takes advantage of the opportunities to feed upon God’s Word. Without it, we cannot be prepared.

If we are prepared, then we will be able to fulfill the second part of Luke 12:35 where Jesus said “your lights burning.” In other words, “Let our lights be burning.” One reason that Christ has not yet come back is because there is work to do in the spreading of the Gospel, and each of us who believe have a light that needs to shine in a world that is sometimes characterized by spiritual darkness. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men…” The emphasis is on two things: remembering that you have a light and that it needs to be shining, and understanding that the critical issue is that you “let” your light shine.

Some people hide their light. This is the greatest obstacle to the spread of the gospel. The work will only get done properly if we all do our part. No one can reach everyone, but everyone can reach a few. The spread of the gospel will die out completely, as soon as there is one generation of Christians that stops letting their light shine. The number one reason that believers hide their light is the fear of persecution. There will be some persecution, but God is stronger than man. In the long run you will be better off and you will be a better person, if you let your light shine. It’s much better to have praise from God than from man.

When Jesus said, “Let your lights be burning,” He probably meant this as opposed to “Make your lights be burning.” It must be Christ in us, not us. It must be the will of God, not the will of man. Some people go about to establish their own righteousness, and some people go about to make their light shine. For both, their efforts are in vain. In this context there is a big difference between “let” and “make.”

Notice that Jesus did not give any details on what to do to “let” our lights be burning. There is no designated behavior that is recommended above another. Are there a specific number of gospel tracts that I must distribute in order to be a shining light? If I distribute fewer than that number, am I failing to let my light shine? Of course not! I will let my light shine, if I let the truth out instead of hiding the truth. If I love God wherever I am, if I say what I believe to be true wherever I go and in whoever’s company I find myself; then I will be letting my light shine in the world.

We serve a great Savior. He told us everything we need to know to live for Him in this world. He told us to look forward to His return, and as we wait for His return He told us, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning.”

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