James Merritt - Prayer 301
If you Google the word, list, and I’m a Google guy, but if you google the word, list, you’ll find the most popular list on Google or what is called top 10 list. And that really shouldn’t surprise you in a way because in a way, if you think about it, 10 is kind of a, it’s kind of a magical number. So, for example, go back to your childhood. The first thing you learn to do as a child mathematically is you learn to count to 10. Most humans have 10 fingers and 10 toes. God and His Wisdom gave us 10 commandments. You count large numbers in multiples of 10. If you are a football fan, of which as you know I am, you want your team to be one of the top 10 teams at the end of the season. You want your team to have a top 10 recruiting class. If you want to gain the first down, you’ve got to go 10 yards.
So, I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something kind of magical and different about the number 10. Well, I’m gonna put a top 10 list up here right now. I want you to read them, each one, and I want you to see if you can figure out what is this list? What is this top 10 list all about? So, just bear, well, I think most of you will figure it out. First, inflation. Number two, the affordability of healthcare. Number three, the ability of Democrats and Republicans to work together. Number four is drug addiction, which may be why we have drug addiction 'cause they can’t get along. Gun violence, number five. Violent crime. The federal budget deficit. The state of moral values. Illegal immigration. And the quality of public K through 12 schools.
What do you think that list is comprised of? It’s what we’re worried about. Those are the top 10 things that Americans are saying today, that’s what worries us. This is what keeps us awake at night. This is what makes us walk the floor. Now, if you’re one of those rare birds and you’re sitting there and you’re saying, none of those things worry me. No worries. There are a lot of other things you’d worry about. Let me give you an example. You like to be out in the sun. Well, just a word of caution, it does cause skin cancer. You like working in a nice plush office. Did you know in most office buildings, there are vents that are blowing these lung clotting mold spores that can give you cancer? You like potato chips? They got too many carbs. You like vegetables? They got too many toxins. I mean, without even, I mean, prime ribs got too much fat.
So, without even trying, I mean, people will give you things to worry about. Now, if you are one of those weirdos who say, I don’t worry about anything. You worry me, I’m worried about you. I just don’t understand people that don’t ever worry about anything. As a matter of fact, if you say, I’m not worried about anything, you should be worried about yourself. You need therapy, you need help. Now, if you’re like me and the vast majority of you are, I’ll be honest, worry is a problem. There’s something pastors have trouble with, and we have to work on it. I’ve had to work on it in all my ministry, because, you know, we, although I don’t, I’m not Clark Kent and I don’t become Superman on Sunday. I don’t have a red phone next to my desk that’s a hotline to God anymore than you do. I shop at Walmart and go to Kroger just like you do.
We do subliminally think we can’t let our guard down, we don’t wanna let people think there’s any chink in our armor, you know, after all I’m the pastor. Well, I wanna be very transparent. My Achilles heel is worry. That’s my emotional Achilles heel. I’ve been a worrier all of my life. My mom was a worrier, I’m not saying it’s hereditary. my mom was a worrier, I am a worrier. As a matter of fact, there are times in my life that I get to a point when I’m not worried and then I’m worried that I’m not worried. So, I mean, I’m just telling you worry is a problem. And as you get older, it doesn’t really get better.
So, if you’re one of those people that maybe you wake up worried, and during the day you walk in worry, and then at night you go to bed worried, don’t worry because this message is for you and for me, and I am so grateful that Jesus had a lot to say about worry. As a matter of fact, in the greatest sermon that he ever preached. If you’re a guest our us today, by the way, we’ve been in this series, I hope you’ve enjoyed as much as I have, that we’re calling, «Get used to Different». It is on the greatest sermon ever preached, which is the Sermon on the Mount. And what’s very interesting is, you would’ve never thought this, but before Jesus preached this sermon, if you had said to Jesus, what portion of the message will be the longest portion? What will you talk about the most in that message is worry.
This is the biggest portion of the Sermon on the Mount. And evidently, Jesus knew that He, we’re going to have an issue with worry. So, if you brought your booklet, many of you bring your booklets down, just turn to Matthew 6. And before we get into what Jesus says about worry, let me clarify one difference because I don’t want you to misunderstand what worry is. Let me tell you what I’m not talking about, all right? There’s a difference between worry and concern. For example, if you’re a parent, you ought to be concerned if you have a prodigal child. You ought to be concerned that your child is getting a quality education. You ought to be concerned that your kids are hanging around with the right kids. You know, you ought to be.
If you’re wanting to get married and you’re thinking about getting married, you’re single. You ought to be concerned about finding the right person, finding a godly husband, finding a godly wife, finding somebody that really means it when they say one day, till death do us apart, sickness or in health or whatever, we’re in this far the long haul. If you desire to retire someday, you ought to be concerned about saving enough money so you can have an income in your twilight years. So, I want you to understand there’s a difference between worry and concern. So, to really make it simple for you to understand, let me put it to you this way. A worried person sees a problem, a concerned person does something about it. A worried person sees a problem, but a concerned person solves a problem.
And by the way, let me just, before I get into anything else, let me just kind of kind of skip ahead and just kind of get you to think about something during this message. There are really only two things you can worry about. Not that you should, but there’s only two things you can. You can worry about things you can’t control and you can worry about things you can. Now, just think about this for a minute. If you’re worried about something right now and you have no control over it, why are you worried? Can’t do anything about it. Now, if you’re worried about something you can control, why are you worried? Go do something about it. So, when you think about it, there’s really nothing we should worry about. And I know you know that and you know I know that, but it’s still difficult to overcome.
So, as we listen to this advice from Jesus, who by the way not only tells us why we shouldn’t worry, but He is absolutely the greatest reason we should not worry. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m gonna be honest, it’s a lot easier to talk about overcoming worry than it does to overcome it. Matter of fact, again, I’m gonna be very transparent. I’m real worried right now. What are you worried about? I’m worried that my sermon won’t help you quit worrying. So, I’m already worried. I’m concerned, I mean I really am worried. So, I wanna start today with the simple truth that Jesus is gonna teach us today. Very simple. Here’s what Jesus is gonna say. «The trouble with worry is it’s not worth the trouble». That’s the trouble. «The trouble with worry is it’s not worth the trouble».
Now, I wanna give you three very simple reasons why. None of this is profound, you’ve probably have heard this somewhere before, you probably know it before. You need to say something more than once to really get it down. So, if you are a worrywart, and by the way, I don’t want you to raise your hand 'cause everybody will look at you and what are you worried about? But if you are worried about something right now, I don’t know what it is, but you said, boy, you, I need this, okay? You need to write these three things down and you need to remember these, they will help you go to sleep tonight. Number one, Jesus said, «Worry is Unreasonable». Worry is unreasonable.
Now, I want you to notice something up front about this passage. Jesus repeats three words and He repeats it three times. We’re in Matthew 6:25. «Therefore I tell you,» everybody say that out loud, «do not worry». But then he says it again. «So do not worry». Third time, therefore… Now, three times Jesus says, do not worry. Now, I think you would agree that if Jesus says something one time, you’d take it to the bank. But now if Jesus says something three times, you better perk up, you better pay attention, you better sit up and listen.
Now, why do you think Jesus said three times, do not worry, do not worry, do not worry? Again, Jesus is the brilliant psychologist, the master psychiatrist, He knows exactly what He’s doing. The reason I believe why Jesus said do not worry three times is because there are three days we worry about all the time. We worry about yesterday, we worry about today and we worry about tomorrow. We worry about 'em all the time. We worry about yesterday, we worry about today, we worry about tomorrow. For example, there’s some of you right now, you’re worried about yesterday. I just got a text just before I walked into this building. I just got a text from a man who underwent a CAT scan and an MRI on his brain, and he is worried about the results of that CAT scan. He’s worried about something that actually took place yesterday or actually this past Friday. He had the MRI and the CAT scan. He’s worried about yesterday.
The fender bender, maybe you got into a fender bender this past week, you’re worried about that fender bender. Maybe you made a mistake at work or so, your boss got on TV or something, you’re afraid you might lose your job. It happened yesterday. Well, let me just stop right there. Let’s just take yesterday for a moment. I want you to consider how you can use yesterday to help you face today and tomorrow when it comes to worry, okay? So, here’s the simple question I want to ask you, I want you to ask yourself right now, I want you to ask yourself this question. I’m here now, right? I mean, you are here right now.
So, I mean, up to this moment, yesterday has not taken you out. And the point is, if God took care of you yesterday, don’t you think God can take care of you today? I mean, before you were born, think about this. Before you were born, God took care of you. Every day you live, God is taking care of you. When you come to the end of your life, God will still be taking care of you. See, your life is kinda like two covers of a book, and every page in between has God’s name written on it. So, from the cradle to the grave, God was there, God is there and God will always be there taking care of you.
Now, Jesus knows, even He knows, you know what? I can tell you till I’m blue in the face, do not worry, do not worry, do not worry. Don’t worry about yesterday, don’t worry about today, don’t worry about tomorrow. Jesus knows, I can tell you till I’m blue in the face and I’m Jesus, but you’re still going to worry. So, Jesus says, «Let me just give you a couple of practical examples why you should not worry. Let me just show you how unnecessary worry is». And then again, Jesus is so brilliant. Jesus says, «Let me tell you what I want you to do». If you were in His Office right now and He was counseling you, He was trying to tell you how, you know, to get rid of worry, here’s what He would do. He would take you to a window and He’d say, «Just look out the window».
So, here’s what He says. «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. Are you not much more valuable than they»? Now, it’s raining today and I understand that kind of dreary. But maybe today when you get home and you’re worried about something, and when the sun comes back out, just look out at the trees and just look out the birds. And then I want you to ask a question. Do those birds look worried to you? You know, I did my homework, you know, that’s what you pay me to do. I study things that you would never know. Did you know this is a fact? Did you know there has never been a bird in medical history treated for hypertension? But never. Did you know no bird has ever died of a stroke? Never happened.
When you look at the birds, they don’t have a care in the world. No bird’s ever had a panic attack. You know what Jesus is saying? Jesus is really saying worry is so worthless, it’s not even for the birds. Even they don’t worry. And so, you know, ornithologists, let me tell you how great a statement this is. Now, they didn’t know this when Jesus said this, but you’re gonna know it. Ornithologists now define there are at least 18,000 species of birds in the world. 18,000. Do you know how many total different birds there are in the world right now? There are over 400 billion birds in the world.
Now, that amounts to between 40 to 60 birds a person. Now, if you are a bird watcher. By the way, if you’re a bird watcher, don’t tell anybody. But if you are a bird watcher, if you were to say, you know what? I’m gonna look at one new species of bird every single day. It would take you 50 years to see all of the birds that there are in existence right now. And the point Jesus is making is, if God can take care of 400,000, 400 billion birds every day, don’t you think He can take care of you? So He says, «Just look at the birds». And then Jesus says, «Hey, just keep looking out the window. I want you to move from the trees to the ground».
So, He says this, «Why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, you of little faith»? You ever seen the rose garden? Sure you have. I remember I was talking to my buddy, I got my dear buddy with me, spent a week, he was a pastor in New York City. one of my best buddies in the world. And we were talking about the, I was talking about visiting President Bush at the Oval Office back when I was SBC president.
And I was talking about how I went over to the desk and I was standing at the desk and I was looking out at the rose garden. Don’t let people would get to do that. And I was looking at the rose garden and I was, as I was telling him that story yesterday, you know what hit me? I went back to that time when I was looking at that rose garden, I didn’t see one rose walking back and forth. I didn’t. I didn’t see one drop of sweat falling off of one rose pedal. They were so serene, they were so quiet, they were so peaceful. 'Cause you’ll never see a rose worried. Well, think about this. There are 369,000 different species of flowers all over the world. 369,000. And what Jesus is saying is, if God makes sure that all the flowers on earth not only have all the clothes they need to wear, but oh by the way, He makes sure they have the right color and they match, why in the world are you worried about anything?
Jesus said, «When you had all these things of, when you just look at the birds in the tree and the flowers in the ground, worry, it’s unreasonable». But then Jesus says something else. He says, «Not only is worry unreasonable, worry is unnecessary». So, this is what He says in verse 34. He says, «Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own». Remember I told you earlier, there are three days that we worry about. We worry about yesterday, what we did, the mistake we made. We worry about today, you know, we’re gonna get our test results back from the doctor today. Or we’re worried about tomorrow, you know, will I still have a job or whatever, tomorrow?
Well, there’s just something to remember about those three days. And always remember this, okay? Number one, yesterday is gone, you can’t change it. Tomorrow is not even here, it is just to, maybe you may not even be here tomorrow. So, why worry about it? Because all you can really do is live in the present. And by the way, and I’ve done this so many times. Why do we ruin today because of a yesterday that’s already gone and a tomorrow that may not come? Why do you do that? Why would you even waste your time? It is so unnecessary. I love this definition of worry. «Worry is the interest we pay in advance today for trouble that may never come tomorrow». «Worry is the interest we pay in advance today for trouble that may never come tomorrow».
See, most of the time, we’re worried about what might happen or what might not happen in the future. So, there’s something you’ve got to do or you’re gonna be a worrywart the rest of your life, you’re gonna ruin every day that you live. And what you’ve gotta do is, you’ve got to leave tomorrow alone. You can’t presume a bond tomorrow. How many people went to bed last night worried about today and died in their sleep, were killed in an automobile crash, had a fatal heart attack? It may not even come. See, when it comes to God, here’s what God does. God’s only made one promise. God says, «I will give you the strength and I’ll give you the grace that you need for today. I will not give you grace for tomorrow, I will not give you strength for tomorrow because the only day I’m gonna give you is today».
Why do you think the Bible says today is the day of salvation? Because tomorrow may not come! You can’t get saved yesterday, you may not even be here tomorrow. You better be saved today. Same thing is true about any worry that you might have. By the way, the reason why, you ever thought about why the calendar gives every day its own number? Because you’re supposed to live in that order. This is the 21st, we live on the 21st, not the 22nd. And so, just as God arranged the days on the calendar, God has not called you to worry about tomorrow, God has called you to live today.
Now, I wanna tell you about a study that was done. When I read this, I got so ashamed of myself, I’ma be honest with you. But I look back on my life and you know what I realize? I’m about to tell you. Some of you are too young yet to believe what I’m about to tell you. I’m telling you, in the years of life God’s given me, this is, in fact, it may be low. This is absolutely true. There was a study that was done by a doctor, his name was Walter Calder. It was funded by the National Science Foundation. It revealed some amazing stats about human beings and worry. I want you to watch this. I wanna take these slow, you might wanna jot these down. 30% of our worries are about events in the past.
So, let’s just stop right there. What can you do about it? Somebody tell me. Can’t do a thing. It’s in the past, done, gone. 30%, one out of three, it’s in the past, it’s done. I love this next one. 40% of the things we worry about never happen. Great example. Great example. 41 years, 41, I worried that Georgia would never win a national championship. 41 years. 40% of the things we worry about never happen. 12% of our worries are unfounded health concerns. You know, this is something you have to be careful as you get older. You know, every little ache, every little pain. Oh Lord God, I’m gonna die tomorrow. Right? I mean, there, you know, I don’t know if you know this or not.
Did you know, and I’m, this is not funny, I’m not making a joke. The older you get, the more you’re susceptible to hypochondria. You think something’s wrong, but it’s really not. 12% of our worries are unfounded health concerns. 10% of our worries are over minor and trivial issues. How many times have you burned your candle of life worrying about nothing that really doesn’t matter? It’s like the little boy that was in school and he wasn’t really good at math. And the teacher said, «Johnny, I’m going to call on you first. How much is 10 plus eight»? He thought a minute, he said, «I don’t know, but it’s not enough to worry about». How many times do we worry about things, there’s just not enough to worry about? So, when you add all of that up, this is what they found.
Now watch this, this is unbelievable. Only 8% of our worries are real legitimate issues. In other words, 92% of the things that we worry about in life never happen. And I’m telling you, I look back on my life, I look back on my ministry. Some of you were with me when I first came to Snellville 35 plus years ago. I’d been there six months, it was pure hell, six months of hell. And I walked into a business meeting and I knew I was gonna get fired, I knew I was gonna lose my job. I knew it. I was worried, what am I gonna do? I got a wife, I got three kids, Joshua’s just a baby boy. I haven’t done anything wrong, the church is growing, but some people don’t like me, they don’t like the way I preach, don’t like the way I lead. And thought I was gonna get fired.
And if you’d told me in that business meeting where they were standing three deep around the wall, you couldn’t even get 'em into the building. If you told me that night, oh, it’s gonna wind up with you getting a seven-minute standing ovation, I’d have told you, you lost your mind. So many of the things we worry about, they just never happen. 92%. They either don’t happen or they weren’t nearly as bad as you thought they would be. In other words, here’s the point. Most of the worries that we manufacture, never leave the warehouse. Stay right there. I read a story the other day, there was a lady, she was checking her email one time and she noticed she got a note from a friend, but it was marked urgent. She said, why? I wonder what’s going on? When she opened the email, there was a two sentence message.
Here’s what she sent. «Start worrying now. I’ll send details later». Worry, it’s unnecessary. But here’s the last thing and this really ought to get our attention because there’s nothing funny about the last point. Worry is ungodly. It’s just ungodly. There’s a lot of things that we think about that are ungodly. You know, getting drunk is, that’s ungodly. Taking drugs, that’s ungodly. Sleeping with your girlfriend, that’s ungodly. Using profanity, that’s ungodly. Looking at pornography, that’s ungodly. Gossiping, that’s ungodly. Because I think a lot of things we think, worry is ungodly. That’s why Jesus says this. «So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat? ' Or 'what shall we drink? ' Or 'what shall we wear? '» Why? «For the pagans,» pagans, unbelievers, atheist, agnostics, «pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them».
Jesus says, «Here’s the truth, you may not like it, it maybe make you feel uncomfortable. When you worry, you’re acting just like a pagan. You’re acting just like an unbeliever. You’re acting like there is no God». And by the way, let’s think about that for a minute. Let’s just say there is no God, just for a moment, just hypothetical, let’s just say there is no God. Or let’s say there is a God, but He’s not a good God, He’s an evil God. Alright, let’s say that He’s a good God, but He really isn’t control of anything.
Now, if those three things are true, you’d be a fool not to worry. I’d really be worried. If there is no God, I’d be worried to death because I don’t even understand the meaning of life, I don’t understand why I’m here, much less know where I’m going when I die. Or if there’s a God, but I thought that God was evil, I’d really be worried 'cause I’m thinking, when’s He gonna zap me? Or if there is a God and He’s good, but He’s not all powerful and He’s not in control of everything, and I know at the end of the day everything’s up to a flip of the coin, I’d really be worried. But if there is a God, and there is, and if that God is good, and He is, and if that God is all powerful, and He is, and if He always does what is best, and He does, worry is ungodly.
So, it’s hard to take, hard for me to hear myself say it. I almost took it out of the message 'cause I didn’t like it. But when you’re worried, here’s what you’re doing. You are taking all of your focus off of the God who controls everything, and you’re putting on focus on the things you either can or you cannot control. So, what you’ve simply done, this is why He says you’re like the pagan. You’ve just exchanged a God with a big G for a god with a little G, who doesn’t even exist. You’re just like the pagans. In essence, here’s what you’re really saying. When you’re worried about something that you’re not gonna like this, you’re gonna say, no, that’s not what I’m saying. This is exactly what you’re saying. When you’re worried about something, what you’re really saying is, I don’t even think you can handle this one. I even think this is above your pay grade. I don’t think you even have a clue of what I need to do. Can you?
Listen. What kind of an insult is that to the God that created this world? What kind of an insult is that to the God who just spoke and a world came into existence? I don’t think you can handle this one. See, something happens when the demon of worry invades your heart. The doctor sees a spot on your lung, you just got laid off from your job. Your spouse is having second thoughts about the marriage. Now, when those things happen, and they will, I am not gonna sit here and tell you that life is carefree. I’m not gonna sit here and tell you it’s all roses and no thorns. You know better than I know better. I’m not gonna sit here and tell you there’s not gonna be times that you’re gonna be tempted to worry. That’s not what I’m saying.
Here’s what I am saying. When those times come, you can take all that bad news and you’re gonna pour it into one of two bowls. Bowl number one is called worry. So, you can take all these things that are happening, all these things you’re afraid of, and you put it into a bowl called worry. Now, you can heat it up, you can stir it up you, you can begin to take small bites, you can eat it until you’re sick of it. But I just wanna warn you, if you choose to do that, what you’re gonna wind up with, what you’re gonna wind up eating is gonna start eating you. But you do have another choice, there’s two bowls.
So, you can take all those things you walked in here this morning, all those things you’ve got on your mind when start even listening to me just a while ago. You can take all those things, but instead of putting them into a bowl called worry, you can put them into a bowl called worship. And when you choose worship over worry, here’s what happens. Then God will do what only God can do, and He will take control of your problem. That’s why Jesus says this. We’re gonna come back and talk about this in another message. «But seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well».
Now, why did Jesus say that? He’s talking about worry. Do not worry, do not worry, do not worry. So He is like, it’s all negative. But then He makes this positive statement, «Oh, but by the way, here’s my prescription, here’s my medication, here’s my recipe. If you’ll just seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, all these things,» what things? The things you’re worried about, my future, my job, my marriage, my income, my retirement, my health, all these things will be given to you as well. So now, what does that verse really mean? Watch this. Jesus is so brilliant. Worry is a sign. Don’t ever forget what I’m about to tell you. Worry is a sign that you’re seeking the wrong things. Worry is a sign that you’re seeking the wrong things.
So, how do you know that? Because of what Jesus said. Jesus said, «If you seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, all these things will be added to you so you won’t be worried. So, if you’re worried, you’re seeking the wrong things». So, let me give you some practical examples. If you seek first the kingdom of money, you’re gonna be worried about every dollar and every dime. You’re gonna be selfish, you’re gonna be stingy, you’re gonna be greedy, you’re gonna hoard everything you’ve got, if you seek the kingdom of money. if you seek first the kingdom of health, you’re gonna be worried over every skin spot, every headache, every little ache, every pain.
You young people over here, if you seek first the kingdom of popularity, you’re gonna be worried about how many people follow you on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or TikTok. Which by the way, I got a feeling in eternity, there is no TikTok. That’s just my guess. When you seek first the kingdom of popularity, that’s when you worry about what do the people say? What do the people think? About every critical word. If you seek first the kingdom of safety, you’ll be worried about every noise you hear at night when you go to bed. But here’s what Jesus said, «If you will make God your number one priority, if you’ll seek My Kingdom and My Will, if you’ll surrender everything you have, everything you are, from your health to your wealth. If you’ll give it all to Me, if you’ll just be concerned about being the righteous person you ought to be, and the faithful person you ought to be, and the godly person you ought to be, and doing the righteous things you ought to do».
This is what God says, this is such a great promise. He says, «I’ll take care of everything else». Not some of the things, not a lot of the things, all the thing, all these things. I’ll take care of everything. In other words, I love to teach, it’s one of my favorite things to say. God says, «If you take care of My business, I’ll take care of yours». It’s that simple. If you take care of my business, I’ll take care of yours as you seek first my kingdom. Now, if you don’t believe anything I’ve said, if you think this, well, he’s just preaching, but nah. I wanna prove to you this very moment how God’s keeping His Word even this very moment. Are you ready? You may feel like you’re sitting still right now, I may feel like I’m standing still right now, but you’re not sitting still right now and I’m not standing still right now.
Now, I haven’t lost my mind. What do you mean? Do you understand that we’re on a planet that is rotating on its axis at a thousand miles an hour. Just like clockwork, that planet makes one full revolution every 24 hours. If that’s not enough, planet earth is moving around the sun, it’s speeds approaching 67,000 miles an hour, almost as fast as Interstate 85 on a Monday morning. So, you know what you’re going to do today? You think you’re sitting still, you think you’re standing still? Today, we will travel through space 1.5 million miles. So, what’s the point? Let me ask you this. Did you go to bed worried last night that maybe God would go to sleep and let the world slip out of its orbit? Did you go to bed last night tossing and turning because you worried that maybe the rotation of the earth would slow down, which would end all of life? Did you go to bed last night worried that maybe we wouldn’t make it all the way around the sun?
Well, of course not. And you shouldn’t, because every single day of your life and every single day since the day you came into this planet, every single day, as the world turns, it’s another day to be reminded God has not only taken care of us, there’s nothing that God can’t handle. If God can spin a world on His Finger at a thousand miles an hour, and while that world is spending, make it spin and rotate every 24 hours. And if God can take that planet and move it at 67,000 miles an hour, and if God can take all of us little peons on this planet and He’ll let us travel $1.5 million miles every single day, and we don’t even know it. Don’t you think God can take care of you? Don’t you think God can handle every, yeah, give the Lord a hand. Don’t you think?
But I haven’t got to the best part yet. If I still haven’t convinced you, let me give it one last shot. 'Cause everything I’ve said pales in comparison to this. There’s a cross and there’s an empty tomb that tells me that God took care of the two greatest problems the human race faces. At the cross, God took care of our sin. At the empty tomb, God took care of death.
So, you look at the sin, you look at the cross and you look at the empty tomb. I don’t go to bed at night worried about facing a Holy God. I don’t go to bed at night worrying about the sin that could condemn me, 'cause I’ll have no condemnation. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. I’m gonna face God not as my judge, but as my Father and as my Savior. And I can tell you this right now, I do not fear death. Matter of fact, the older I get, in some ways, honestly, I look forward to it because I believe what the Bible says, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So, if my sins been taken care of and my death has been taken care of, you know what that means in the end? Because of Jesus, not just His Words, but His Work. Not just His Life, but His Death. Not just His Death, but His Resurrection. Because of Jesus, we have nothing to worry about.
So, as you bow your heads, close your eyes just for a moment. Before, and I don’t want anybody move, don’t nobody move, stay still just a minute, this is important. I gotta tell you one last thing. I read this yesterday, just crushed me. One out of three Americans are worried about their money and their financial position. Less than 10% are worried they might go to hell. Let that sink in. One out of three Americans are worried about their money. But listen, than 10% are worried about going to hell. I’m just gonna be honest. If you’ve never given your life to Jesus, if you’ve never trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you better be worried. If you’re facing death and you do not have the assurance of eternal life because of God’s Grace and your faith in Jesus, you better be worried. You don’t have even an ounce of a doubt that you’re ready to meet God, you better be worried. But I can help you get rid of that worry today. You’re watching me right now, you’re in this room. If you’ll just simply pray this prayer and mean it.
Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner, I’m lost, I need to be saved. I cannot save myself, I can’t do it. But I believe You died from my sins, I believe God raised you from the dead, I believe You’re alive right now. And I ask you to come into my heart. I ask you to save me. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sins. I repent and turn away from my sinful ways. I trust you as my savior, I receive you as my Lord. Thank you Lord Jesus for hearing my prayer. Thank you for saving me today.