Security, work, God

Matthew 6
[24] "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
[25] "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
[26] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
[27] And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?
[28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;
[29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
[30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?
[31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?'
[32] For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
[33] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
[34] "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.

This is the Bible passage for the sermon today. Ever since, I have passed my exams, everyone's been asking me about my plans for the future. Plans to further my career.

With so many people asking, I can't help thinking about the plans, what I should/should not do...

Do not serve two masters. The reason we can't do it is the lack of security without money/career/whatever, we have to read the passage as a whole, when Jesus told us not to serve mammon, we should remember God will take care of us.

And we should be serving God only.

It's not some radical new message, but a timely reminder for me to remember again whom I should be serving.

From Marva Dawn's Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting (I have just started reading it today)

The Sabbath is a day to abstain totally from whatever is our work at the time. Jacques Ellul declares that the emphasis on the Sabbath in the Old Testament "shows that work is not after all so excellent or desirable a thing as people often tell us". In our culture, which attaches such a grand importance to work and productivity, our weekly ceasing reminds us that the value of work lies not in itself nor in the worth it gives us, but in the worship of God that takes place in it. The Sabbath, then, is a sign of liberation, Ellul asserts. Jesus never calls anyone to work.