My thoughts (Mark Shoup):

As an owner of multiple dogs and a vast expanse of white carpet, I can attest to the validity of the biblical metaphor for dogs not understanding what is sacred. In fact, time and time again, my dogs seem to gravitate towards the white carpet whenever they are feeling sick, have a  particularly stain inducing toy, or aren’t sure if they can wait to be let outside. But this isn’t the dogs’ fault. To them, the carpet probably feels better on their paws than the linoleum, and they certainly have no understanding of the disparate efforts involved in cleaning the two surfaces. To them, “floor is floor.”

This verse, by way of caution against giving important things to animals that don’t understand their value, is a metaphor for not trying to impress or foist spiritual ideals on those who are not ready to hear them. Think of it as the exact opposite of people handing out those “turn or burn” tracts to unbelievers! To do that, or to oppress non-Christ followers with God’s commands does far more harm than good, as it often polarizes people against God’s word and the Church at large.

As is often the case, I have an example from my own life for what not to do. Unfortunately, this example actually happened this past week, proving yet again that I’m a work in progress. . .

A friend from work is facing surgery in a couple of days. It’s not especially major surgery, but will involve general anesthesia and a somewhat painful recovery. This friend is usually a fairly quiet and private person, but has been bringing up the operation time and time again, and is obviously scared. At one point, when he was talking about it in the break room with a few other coworkers, I asked him without thinking if it would comfort him if I asked some people from my church to pray for him. Now I should probably mention that he is at best agnostic and has likely never been to church or opened a Bible. His response of “thanks anyway”, was probably more polite than I deserved, putting him on the spot in front of his peers like that. The correct thing for me to have done would have been to either ask when we were alone, or probably better yet, to just pray for him without telling him I was doing so.

One final thought: please don’t mistake the use of “dogs” and “swine” in this scripture as a reason to regard unbelievers as second class citizens or beneath followers of Christ. To do so is to miss the point of what Jesus is saying. Jesus’ emphasis is on reaching people where they are at.

Thought for the day: In all the ways I share the Gospel with those in my sphere of influence — with words, actions, attitudes — is it “audience appropriate”? Am I a warm, loving example, or a rude, pushy salesman?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Julie Walsh):

I love to bake! I’ll whip up any type of bread, pastry, cake, or pie, but my favorite baking time is spent making cookies. All flavors, shapes, and designs of cookies. In fact, most Christmases I bake up to 25 varieties of delicious cookies to share with friends and family.

Baking is mostly about precision. The common chocolate chip cookie recipe looks like this:

• 2 ¼ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Each ingredient is carefully measured and mixed. Then the dough is divided into portions and baked. But what comes out of the oven is still ultimately the same amount of each specific ingredient that went in — no more, no less.

I could always add my own twist to this tried and true recipe, but what would I gain? If I add two teaspoons of baking soda instead of one, the cookie will be bitter. If I substitute pepper instead of salt, then I will not have the proper catalyst to bind all the ingredients together and my cookies will have an unusual spicy flavor.

I like to think relationships are a lot like cookie dough. Jesus may be calling us to temper ourselves with:

• 2 ¼ cups love
• 1 teaspoon kindness
• 1 teaspoon tenderness
• 1 cup humility
• ¾ cup patience
• ¾ cup compassion
• 1 teaspoon respect
• 2 ears to openly listen
• 2 cups forgiveness

Instead, we often make alterations and substitutions to this recipe. Gossip in place of kindness, selfishness in place of tenderness, pride in place of humility, and criticism in place of compassion. Mix these ingredients together and we form a dough that will bake up some old-fashioned negativity and judgment.

Then we serve it to the people we know. A little bit to the boss, a little more to our spouse, and even more to the people we run across that we just don’t understand. And that’s not an easy cookie to swallow.

Jesus says, “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” But this isn’t the only passage where Jesus couples this proverb with his teachings. Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:38 also draw the same conclusion. In these teachings, Jesus says:

• Do not judge and you will not be judged.
• Do not condemn and you will not be condemned.
• Forgive and you will be forgiven.
• Give and it will be given to you.
• Whoever has will be given more.
• Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

If we dole out a generous serving of judgment and condemnation, then we can expect to receive the same measure in return when people respond in kind. But if we stick to the goodness of the original recipe, infusing our relationships with love and forgiveness, then we can expect rewarding relationships that will be tender and sweet.

Thought for the day: What ingredients are you mixing into your relationships? The measure of character you give is the same measure you can expect to receive in return.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Brent Walsh):

It was just this last Sunday in our Financial Peace University class that the debate arose over how much a person should worry about their future.

We had just finished a lesson on long-term savings for things like college and retirement. One person suggested that we should be reluctant to spend money on anything that is not completely necessary until we are in a secure financial position with ample savings. Another person disagreed, saying that if you wait until you’re financially secure before you do anything, then life could pass you by. Money can always be gained, she said, but you can’t get back the time that you wish you had spent on vacation with your kids.

So which is the better advice? Do we worry about the future, thereby putting off doing fun things until we can afford them? Or do we throw caution to the wind and risk running short, in order to fill our lives with fun memories?

Today we see that Jesus says,

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes. . . Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. . . ”

Upon first glance, it looks like Jesus is disregarding the value of a good plan for the future. In other parts of the Bible we are urged to work hard, save for the future, and be wise with the money we have. Why would Jesus say not to worry about these things? Is he suggesting we should just sit around and wait for God to throw money, food, and clothes on our doorsteps?

I don’t think so. If you look a bit further into Jesus’ words, you will see he says,

“. . .your heavenly Father knows that you need [these things]. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”

I think what Jesus is saying is that there should be a balance of concern between planning for the future and living a full life. You should do everything in your power to clothe your family and put food on the table, but if money is tight, you should not sit around worrying about where your next meal will come from. This is God’s promise that we will be taken care of. So plan for the future to the best of your ability, and live every day with purpose. Serve the Lord diligently and God will make sure you have what you need.

Thought for the day: How is my balance? Do I spend too much or save too much? Am I full of worry, or full of trust?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Steve Adams):

These words of Jesus are not sunny and optimistic, are they? To the contrary, they’re stern words of warning. It’s almost as if Jesus is saying, “You might think you can worship two Gods at the same time, but don’t fool yourself! You can’t!”

Of course, Jesus is talking about material possessions becoming our master in place of God. He contrasts the healthy and unhealthy eye in verses 22 and 23. The eye, I think, refers to the process of focusing on something, of treasuring it to an extremely high degree. The object you treasure is what you expend your energy and invest your abilities in. Financial accumulation becomes unhealthy when we exalt it above God.

Working hard to provide for my family is an honorable thing. But, if I get carried away and do something unethical, such as lying — in order to get more money — then greed has pulled me away from God, and, no matter how much my windfall glitters, I’m actually in darkness, “. . .and how great is that darkness!”

How ironic that if I give too much of myself to building my own financial security, I’m opening the door for thieves to break in and steal! I get the picture of The Simpson’s Mr. Burns standing in a bank vault, worshipping his millions; only to unwittingly leave the door wide open as he leaves because his gloating has so consumed him.

The thieves will steal something far more valuable than our money, though. They’ll try to take away our relationship with God by causing us to worry so deeply that fear crowds out our intimacy with God (verse 25).

The Amy Grant song “Shadows” depicts the battle we experience as temptations try to pull us away from closeness with God:

Every path I take, roads I go down, choices I make, take me right between, patches of light and darkness in me.
We have to keep a watch on our shadows, every move the secretly make,
We try to be so close to heaven, but then our shadows, they pull us away.

Shadows are baffling because they so often catch us off guard. Just when we think the sky is totally blue and we can see with crystal clear vision, a big, dark cloud sneaks up on us. I’m sure you know the remedy, though — it’s to treasure God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength! Then, we’re in position to receive as much Godly light as possible.

Thought for the day: In Luke 8:15, Jesus speaks of how valuable an honest and good heart is. Lord, help me cultivate a heart like this, so material things won’t become my master.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Penny Dean):

If you know me, you can tell by looking that fasting is not part of my spiritual regimen. I tried it once. . . and promptly broke it before I did something I would regret. So when I read my assignment for today, I resorted to Wikipedia.

According to the site, there are a variety of health benefits that can be obtained through controlled fasting (which means a couple of days at a time): improved cholesterol levels, increased lifespan, and better blood sugar levels to name a few. But as with any good thing, fasting can be taken too far.

On Wikipedia, there are photographs of a woman who embarked on a series of 40-day fasts (40 days being the longest a body can go without food before starvation begins). Before her first fast, she appeared to be a typical American with a possible weight issue. After her third 40-day fast ended, though, the woman appeared emaciated and sickly.

The bible only records Jesus taking one 40-day fast. Matthew 4:1-11 gives the account of Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the wilderness. On day 41, angels attended him, probably bringing him a good, hot meal for starters.

What strikes me most about this story is the setting. Jesus wasn’t tempted in a town or at work or at home. He was in the wilderness. . . alone. It doesn’t get much more private than that.

And, I think, privacy is at the heart of each of Jesus’ admonitions in Matthew 6. When you give, do it quietly; when you pray, do it in private; when you fast, don’t draw attention to yourself. As my then six-year-old niece used to say before slamming the door to her room, “I need my privacy!”

Before each of these instructions, Jesus says, “Don’t do as the hypocrites do.” In other words, make sure your motivation for giving and praying and fasting is to draw you closer to God, not to be honored by other people.

Hypocrites, according to Jesus, give to get honor, pray to be seen, and fast to be admired. Recognition by others is their only reward–and it is short-lived. Rather, let God reward you in God’s own way. The results may seem to be intangible, and not as noticeable as an extended fast, but will last forever.

Thought for the day: What does my spiritual regimen look like? What is my motivation behind it?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

The Archives can be found in the blue sidebars, below, and you can browse by category or author. If you’re reading this via email, rss, Facebook, or on Whosoever.org, you can visit the site to see the archives.

With Malice Toward None by Penny Dean
Monday, March 1

We Are Called to Love the Sinners as Well as the Saints by Brenda Corbello
Tuesday, March 2

The Importance of Being Gwendolyn by Melody Merida
Wednesday, March 3

Communication by Cheryl Stonestreet
Thursday, March 4

Pray In This Manner by Cheryl Stonestreet
Friday, March 5

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