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What Do You Care About?
March 08, 2009
What you care about determines who you are, and what you will be. If you care about fleshly and worldly things, then you will live a fleshly and worldly life. If you care about spiritual things, then you will live a spiritual life.
Bernie Parsons
What Do You Care About?
By Bernie Parsons
Presented to Globe church of Christ on 03-08-2009
What do you really care about? That is, what crowds your mind all of the time? What do you think about all day long? We recently studied that we are what we see, hear, and think about. We think about what we care about.
Luke 8:10: “And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
11: Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12: Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13: They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14: And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15: But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
People tend to hear what they want to hear, see what they want to see, and do what they want to do. It’s all about what you like, desire, or wish to embrace. Do you want to know what God would have you know? Do you want to know how to live righteously? Or, do you prefer to learn wickedness, and to perform acts of unrighteousness?
If you prefer to think about worldly things, and do them, then you will allow those cares to choke out the word of God. Your life will be spent—that is, used up—on pleasures, but you will not have the time, energy, or frame of mind left to bear spiritual fruit.
Luke 10:38: “Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39: And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
40: But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41: And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Mary chose to learn God’s will, while her sister Martha was overly burdened with the day-to-day activities of life. We must needs take care of daily demands, but we must not be overwhelmed by them. They should not define who we are or how we react to life.
Philippians 4:5: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
We must not be full of care, but must moderate life’s demands and needs. Our spiritual well-being is much more important than our physical well-being. One of the methods for moderating our care is to realize that some things are too important to trust to our own understanding.
1 Peter 5:6: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
Let God take the burdens from us. Let Him handle the overarching concerns of life.
Titus 3:8: “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
If you must be full of care, let it be for that which is good and right. The apostle Paul told Titus to be careful to maintain good works. Let us put more time into doing good things for others than we do in looking to fulfill our own desires. These things are profitable to us, in that they make our own lives better, as well as the lives of others.
Not only are we to do good works, but we are to maintain good works, which means that good works are to be an on-going part of our lives. They are not something that we do a few times, and then discontinue. Neither are they things that we occasionally do. We must take care to maintain good works.
It starts in the body of Christ. Some think that caring for the body of Christ means to defend a dogmatic set of traditional doctrines. That is not what caring for the body of Christ means.
1 Corinthians 12:23: “And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24: For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
25: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
26: And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
27: Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
The members make up the body of Christ. All baptized believers in Jesus Christ are members of that body. We should all care for each other. I care for you, and you care for me. By sharing one another’s burdens, we lighten the load for all.
Galatians 6:2: “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
3: For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
4: But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5: For every man shall bear his own burden.
6: Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8: For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10: As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
Paul wrote, “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” We who say that we follow Christ must recognize what comprises the law of Christ. We fulfill His law when we bear one another’s burdens. That is the law of Christ.
Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus showed us how, by bearing our burdens with us, He lightens our load. This teaches us—His followers—that if we will bear one another’s burdens, all of our loads will be a little lighter.
Philippians 4:5: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9: Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
Last time, I spoke about how we are what we hear, see, and think. The apostle Paul told the Christians at Philippi to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.
We can choose to spend our time thinking about lusts of the flesh, the pleasures of this world, and how to fulfill our desires, or we can think on godly things. As we studied before, the things that we treasure in our hearts come out eventually. If we think primarily on evil, and how to perform it, then evil will manifest itself in our actions and speech. On the other hand, if we contemplate truth, honesty, justice, purity, loveliness, and things of good reputation and spiritual value, that will emerge in our lives.
The choice is mine—and yours. What do you really care about?
