Article January 17, 1942 Issue

Meeting Human Needs

WILLIAM B. HARRISON

Jesus understood all human needs. While outward conditions have changed since his time, his words apply no less now than then to the affairs of everyday life. They will continue to apply, because they express Truth, and Truth never changes.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said boldly, "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." These words must have sounded strange to those who were anxious about material things, but he softened the startling statement with the loving reminder, "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."

How this assurance must have comforted them and assured them of the love and understanding of God, the all-wise Father! Had they not been taught by the Psalmist, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him"? Yet they had called upon Him, perhaps often and beseechingly, and still their needs were not fully supplied. Perhaps they thought that God did not hear their prayers, or maybe He had forgotten some of His children. Could Jesus explain this? The Master continued, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." They heard his words, but how many understood their meaning? How could their food and drink and clothing be provided for by seeking God's kingdom first, a place, as they believed, attained only after this human life was over? And yet, the Master had insisted that this was what they must do.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

"Science or suffering"