FOCUS Day Forty-Seven | Luke 12:22-40
DAY FORTY-SEVEN | Luke 12:22-40
Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.
“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
The Father’s Good Pleasure
Luke 12 is one of those passages of Scripture that is loaded with Kingdom truth. That being said, it is not as well known as Matthew 6, which records a lot of the same content. As far as I can see, Luke 12 is not simply a retelling of the sermon on the mount, but another time when Jesus is teaching about not allowing our lives to be focused on the temporary things of this world which will pass away, but seeking first the Kingdom of God.
I love the way that the four gospels give us different insights into some of the same stories and teachings. No matter how much the main focus remains consistent, usually there is something different in each account. Whenever I recognize that I am reading something that is recorded in several places, I feel a little like a detective as I start to investigate what unique insights are left there to discover.
The first part of this passage reads almost identical to Matthew 6, but then we get to verse 32.
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
This is such a strong and glorious statement that is not recorded in the Sermon on the Mount, and one that has such significance for us as followers of Jesus. As He was teaching His disciples about the Kingdom and not living in worry, He reminds us that the Father is trustworthy and will take care of us. But verse 32 goes beyond God meeting our needs. In this statement Jesus is revealing the great joy and delight that is in the Father’s heart for us.
That phrase, good pleasure, is actually the same Greek word that is used when the Father speaks after Jesus is baptized. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Wow!!! That is incredible to me.
God doesn’t just love me because He is God and He is supposed to. No, it is much more than an obligation. It is His delight and brings Him deep pleasure to give us His Kingdom. This kind of joyful love reveals the nature of the Father’s heart for us.
I remember when God was really teaching me about His Father heart for me. I was standing in the bedroom of our tiny apartment holding my daughter, Abigail. She was about four months old at the time. She was old enough to recognize me, but not old enough to really communicate. As I was standing there, two things happened that the Father used to demonstrate the reality of His love to me.
First, I recognized the immensity of love that was in my heart for this little girl, as I held her in my arms. So far, she had done nothing but eat, sleep, cry, giggle and make messy diapers, but she had stolen my heart, and I couldn’t imagine loving her any more than I did in that moment.
As I looked down at her, I sensed God speaking to my heart.
Remember that every good and perfect gift comes from me, the Father of lights. The love that you feel towards your daughter right at this moment is just a drop in the ocean of what I feel towards you. My love for you is full of the pleasure and satisfaction that you are feeling towards Abigail.
In that moment, the Father’s love took on a more tangible dimension that propelled me farther into understanding His heart. God’s love is more than good theology; it is the essence of His person. To know Him more is to know His love for me.
What happened next wrecked my heart even more. As I studied my little girl’s face with all the joy of a father, she looked up and gave me the most incredible smile. As her face lit up, I felt so much pleasure in my heart. Pure pleasure unlike any other feeling I had ever known.
Again, I heard the Father speaking to me:
The pleasure that you feel when your daughter looks at you is just a drop in the ocean of what I feel when you look at me. When you turn your attention towards me and give me your full affection, my heart is satisfied. When you worship me and tell me that you love me, it really does bless me, and I receive it as love from you.
As I stood in the middle of the room, weeping and holding Abigail, my heart melted. I had grasped the significance of sonship a few months before, but now I was truly finding the Father’s heart for me. I was experiencing His pleasure in a way that I didn’t know was possible. Not only was I discovering the depths of God’s love for me, but also the King of heaven had made Himself vulnerable to my affections.
The apostle Paul talked to the church at Ephesus about knowing God this way. In the middle of his prayer for the Ephesians recorded at the end of chapter three, Paul prays for the believers to be “rooted and grounded in love,” and that they would be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—“to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
T he Father’s heart for you is for you to know a love that goes beyond your ability to understand. The wor d “know” in this context means “knowledge gained through experience.” It is God’s plan for you to experience the fullness of His love in this lifetime.
When we know the Father’s Heart for us, it changes the way we approach life. There are at least three things that Jesus talks about here in Luke 12. First, He teaches His followers that they don’t have to live in worry or anxiety. He goes on to say that our life is more than food, clothes and just making it through the day. Since the Father takes care of the birds and flowers, we can be assured that He will take care of us, and provide for us as we seek His kingdom first.
Then in verse 33, Jesus teaches His friends that they can walk in freedom and generosity. His words sound a little radical, “Sell what you have and give alms…”, but it was really just an invitation for them to live their lives for what will last for eternity. We can be liberated to live like this as we choose to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven, instead of simply trying to get ahead here on earth.
The last thing that I see in this passage is the clear call that Jesus gives starting in verse 35. He tells those who were with them that they can live a life watching and waiting for the return of Jesus. This seems like such an impractical way to live, but when we know the depths of the Father’s love for us, we are free to reorient our lives to a different priority.
We can give ourselves to looking and longing for Jesus. While I believe that Jesus was specifically speaking of His return to the earth, I know of no greater way to prepare for His coming than by seeking His face right in this moment. And the next, and then the one after that. Yes! The call to fix our eyes on Jesus is living and breathing today, and fueled by the Father’s good pleasure for you.
I pray that you would have a fresh sense of God’s perfect love over your life, and that would fill you with a deep abiding trust that He will take care of you in this life. I pray that your awareness of His good pleasure over you would cause your heart to feel permission to radically follow after Jesus, focusing your life on His. And finally, I pray that in the face of Christ, you would find the Father’s eyes looking at you in love. Who you are in your Father’s eyes is who you really are.
