Overcoming the Daily Evil

“He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:7 HNV)

Jesus is Savior, Lord, and Teacher. If we are putting our complete trust in him to save us from eternal destruction, and if we need him for our daily rescue, safety, healing and deliverance etc.; then we also need to trust his teachings and instructions. After all, we need him to teach us his system before we can operate successfully in it. What’s more, he can only offer eternal salvation—implying rescue and safety today, tomorrow, and in the future—to those who obey him:

(Hebrews 5:9 EMTV) And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

When it comes to triumphing over the insidious evil we face daily, we certainly need to obey Jesus, as this is his only way of saving us. So what instructions does he give us? To find out, we need to study his word. In particular, as his mention of the daily evil comes at the end of Mat. 6, we should look at everything he said in that context regarding how to overcome it. To begin, let’s read a portion of the Scripture that directly precedes his mention of the daily evil. We will then examine it in detail.

(Matthew 6: 19-26 DKJV)

(19) Do not treasure up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust ruin them, and where thieves break in and steal them. (20) But treasure up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust ruin them, and where thieves do not break in or steal them. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(22) The lamp of the body is the eye; therefore if your eye is healthy (single-focused), your whole body will be fully illuminated. (23) But if your eye is diseased (bad), your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is completely dark, how great is that darkness!

(24) No one can serve as a slave to two masters; for either he will hate one, and love the other, or he will be devoted to one, and despise the other; you cannot serve as a slave to both God and mammon. (25) Therefore I say to you, don’t be distracted by thoughts about your life—what you will eat and drink, nor about your body—what you will put on. Isn’t life more than food, and the body than clothing? (26) Observe the birds of the air! For they don’t sow and reap, nor do they gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?

What Jesus says in this chapter contains alternating sections of instruction and teaching. For example, the first section includes the negative edict, “do not treasure …” and the positive one, “but treasure up …” The next section contains teaching about a healthy eye and two masters. Then he again returns to some more directives as application of the teaching.

Jesus’s instructions comprise of several prohibitions and commands—some “do’s” and some “don’ts,” if you like. He didn’t say these to complete some eloquent poetic prose, or to pad out his speech. They are in fact an exact, divinely inspired formula for overcoming the daily evil. For example, he says, “Don’t be distracted by thoughts about your life.” Then he says, “Observe the birds.” These are both very clear, precise instructions given by Jesus—one negative, the other positive. He intends us to obey them so we can enjoy victory; they are his formula for overcoming.

(John 14:15 isv) “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

We need to explore all Jesus’s instructions in this entire passage. Then we will be able to apply them—by his grace—as a foolproof formula for overcoming in our personal struggle with the daily evil.

We note again that Jesus said, “Don’t be distracted by thoughts about your life—what you will eat and drink; nor about your body—what you will put on” (Verse 25). You may be thinking, “But isn’t one of the main focuses of life to take responsibility for what my family and I eat, drink, and wear?” Yes, it is right to take responsibility for our own life. So when Jesus says this, it only adds to our motivation to delve into the whole of Matthew 6 to ensure that we understand it all, and why he says what he says.

We note also the meaning of the word “distracted” that Jesus used in verse 25. It means to pull off track, sidetrack, divert—entertain, amuse, absorb, engross. Note how the meaning mentions “track”—dis-track-ted, side-track-ed. In Matthew 7, Jesus spoke of the track (“way”) that leads to life:

(Matthew 7:13-14, dkjv) “Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are entering through it. (14) How narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it (the narrow gate)."

We see, therefore, that “thoughts about your life” are designed to pull you off the right track. Our enemy’s strategy is designed to get us off the “way that leads to life.” If we are not on the right track (way), we will not end at the right destination—“life”—either in the here and now or in eternity. In other words, Jesus is warning us about something that has the power to jeopardize our eternal destiny. This is very serious; we need to pay close attention to what Jesus said about these distractions, and how to overcome them. That’s why we need to pay close attention to his relatively simple but crucially important instructions—such as, “observe the birds” and “consider the lilies.”

Let’s now read the remainder of Matthew chapter 6 to put all of this in context. It concludes with the part where he mentions the daily evil that we must overcome to stay on the path to life:

(Matthew 6:27-34, dkjv) “Which of you by anxious thought can add eighteen inches to his stature? (28) And why be distracted over thoughts for your clothing? Consider closely the lilies of the field, how they grow; they don’t toil or weave. (29) And yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. (30) Therefore, if this is the way God clothes the grass of the field—which today is here, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven—will he not much more multiply clothes to you, O you of little faith?

(31) So don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘What will we wear?’ (32)—for the Gentiles seek all these things. For your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you as well. (34) Therefore, do not be distracted by anxious thoughts about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself; sufficient to each day is its own evil.”

As we unpack what Jesus is saying to us here, to help us grasp it, we can summarize it to seven instructions. They will help us apply his winning formula to our own lives:

1. Choose the right investment bank

2. Choose the right focus

3. Choose the right master

4. Choose the right objective

5. Choose the right weapon

6. Choose to fight

7. Choose the easy way to win

We will look at all of these choices in this series of devotional teachings. But today, let's fully come to grips with the simple truth that Jesus—as our Lord and Teacher—gives us instructions. When we learn from him—especially his way of operating in his kingdom—and obey him, we will gain what he offers us as our Saviour. That is, he can save us from every evil—eternal damnation and every day evils—if we do things his way and obey his directives. What is he saying to you today? What is he telling you to do? If you are struggling to obey, the Holy Spirit says to come to the throne of grace; first to ask forgiveness for disobedience (mercy), so you can “find” the grace to help you:

(Hebrews 4:16 NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.