A Walk in the Park

I was reading Matthew 6 today. That's the chapter with the Lord's Prayer. And I noticed something new. Jesus is teaching in this passage. It almost seems like He's jumping from topic to topic. You know, randomly dispensing wisdom in little tidbits. 

But the order wasn't random. Jesus was walking them through a progression. This isn't just a set of teachings to follow. It's a plan. God never expected us to do all of these things at once. He asks us to start at the beginning and walk this path, one step at a time.

I won't repeat Matthew 6. You know how to look it up. Here's the progression I saw this morning...

1. Do good deeds in private.
2. Pray in private.
3. Forgive others and accept forgiveness.
4. Fasting.
5. Store treasures in heaven.
6. Don't worry about tomorrow.

More generally, I thought it went like so...

1. Do something - or decide to do something.
2. Pray, because what I did just didn't quite cut it.
3. Forgive, because this connects me with God and I accept forgiveness.
4. Fasting - self control - God will ask me to do something hard.
5. Doing it helps me appreciate something He wanted me to learn.
6. And peace comes from having my value come from God.

I saw myself walking this path over the last year...

1. I decided to do something about always feeling angry. And did some small things.
2. I cried out to God in the car or wherever.
3. He used a counselor to teach me how to forgive.
4. Then it became easier to eat less (in this case, fasting was literal).
5. And He taught me about dreams and creativity and what they mean to Him.
6. And I can find peace (patience, safety) in Him.

Talking about it, I see this process happening over and over. Each time God opens up a new area, it kind of follows this progression.

So why am I telling you? I saw a great quote, and I can't remember who said it.

Words never last. Words stay the same. What words say changes.

 You can read the same words 3 years later and discover something new. The words themselves didn't change. We did. So here are some words.