Jesus said, “Do not be concerned from morning until evening and from evening until morning about what you will wear.”
There are two meanings to this verse. The first is this. You must have faith in God and the Divine potential in you, and live with faith in order to receive gnosis. The quality of this faith is such that the aspirant trusts the Lord God to provide everything needed to perform the great work. Hence, in our faith, we trust that God will provide, as our spiritual father, Abraham, said to his son Isaac at the time of the sacrifice.
Our faith and trust in God, the Life-power, to provide all that we need to accomplish our soul’s mission in this life naturally extends further. For in such faith, we know that all the situations, circumstances, and events we encounter are a manifestation of God’s Will and God’s Spirit speaking to our secret, undying soul, educating our soul in righteousness and truth. Whether in auspicious circumstances or in the midst of trials and tribulations, our faith informs us that God’s hand is at work and Grace is accomplishing the Will of the Lord in our lives. Thus, we learn to meet all circumstances with equanimity, and seek to see the working of the Lord in all that transpires.
With life’s wisdom, we discover that often the greatest blessings are bestowed upon us through the natural circumstances of suffering in life and the trials and tribulations we face. While we might prefer the auspicious times that bring pleasure and ease, our soul often benefits more through the hardships we endure than the brighter times. A mature faith perceives in hard times a secret work of the Holy Spirit and seeks to draw out the blessings contained in them, embracing trials and tribulations with confidence and joy in the Lord that is equal to the times of good fortune. With such faith, surely we will discover a center of repose and joy within that transcends the relative conditions of happiness and sadness, good times and bad times, illness and wellness, living and dying. It is to this secret center Lord Yeshua would point so that we might discover it.
Discovering this secret center of repose and joy within, this Christ-center behind the heart, through faith we can learn to live within, letting the Christ-Spirit more and more guide and direct our lives and shape us in the image of itself. This very process is the transformation of faith into gnosis and the emergence of a new faith, and so we advance from faith to gnosis in an unfolding self-realization in Christ. In order to do this, we must learn to gather our consciousness inward, living within and living with faith.
The second meaning to this verse corresponds with the first meaning, and it is this: you must live according to righteousness and truth, according to the Truth and Light revealed in your experience. You must follow in the way of the Holy Spirit and not the way of the world. To do this, you cannot worry about how you appear to others or what other people think of you. Rather, you must concern yourself with the will of the indwelling Christ and what the Holy Spirit directs you to do. One cannot live within and live according to one’s faith while remaining preoccupied and self-conscious regarding what people or unenlightened society might think. One who is concerned about what people will think or how one appears to others is not serving God but, instead, is serving the false idols of one’s projections of how others want one to appear or what others think. Moreover, such a person lives a lie and is unreal.
Conforming to the world and way of society will not lead to heaven or enlightenment. Living according to what others think or in concern about how you appear will not bring you either health or happiness. You must learn to be who you are and be who you are in Christ.
The Lord is speaking a simple but profound truth, which is also a spiritual practice in daily living.