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February 14 Daily Devotional

Sufficient Unto the Day Is the Evil Thereof

Dr. John H. Skilton

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. - Matthew 6:34

Bible Reading

Matthew 6:25-34:

25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Devotional

This is Monday. We face the duties, the privileges, the problems, perhaps even the serious troubles, of another day. But we may be thinking not simply about Monday and the challenges that it brings. We may already be disturbed because of trials that we expect or fear on Tuesday, Wednesday, or other days this week. Some of the troubles we fear may never actually occur; some of them may be much easier than we expected: but today they all nevertheless may seem real enough and threatening enough. In fact, we at times may become so disturbed and weakened by anxious thoughts about the future that we are unable to meet the problems of the present with our full strength.

We should, of course, take prudent thought for the morrow and make reasonable and conscientious preparation for it. But we are not to be anxious about it. We are not to ruin the present day or lessen our ability to cope with its problems by worrying about what may or may not happen on the coming days. Our lives, our days, our future, are in the hands of our powerful and loving Father in heaven. The grace of our Lord is sufficient for each day as it comes. We must learn to live one day at a time as unto Him. Yes, this is Monday. In the strength that God gives us now, let us strive to glorify Him every moment of this day.

Welcome to "Think on These Things," a twelve-week daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

We are indebted to P & R Publishing and Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)

 

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