The choice is a hard one: Would I make a living first or would I take a chance on the lunch? It was not meant to be easy. It is hard to give up financial security to demonstrate your faith in the good intentions of your Heavenly Father. It is a seemingly sensible and innocent concern: to get rich. Speaking on “Sixty Minutes” last Sunday, Malcolm Forbes (publisher of Forbes), the archapostle of the rich, was shown addressing the students at a commencement at the University of Ohio. He made a remark which I immediately wrote down, for to me it said everything: “Nothing gives freedom like a buck in the bank!” I immediately thought of Cain’s cry of joy and triumph when by a conspiracy (D&C 84:16 [T&C 82:10]) he succeeded in putting his brother out of the way for the sake of getting gain; he was not ashamed at all, we are told, but “gloried in that which he had done, saying: I am free; surely the flocks of my brother falleth into my hands[!]” (Moses 5:33 [Gen. 3:9]).
But almost all the young people I know today want to believe that we do not have to make such a drastic choice as between trusting in God entirely and working for money in the bank. Again may I remind you, the choice was deliberately designed to be a hard and searching one. But surely, I hear all the time, there must be a compromise, a common ground between them. The favorite text to support this is “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33 [Matt. 3:39]). This is commonly interpreted as meaning that I should first go on a mission or get a testimony, thus seeking the kingdom of God, and then I will be free to seek the other things. First wisdom, then riches. But you never cease seeking wisdom, and you are forbidden to seek riches. This is a classic case of a text out of context. There is no thought here of seeking the other things—if you need them they will be added: When are you supposed to stop seeking the kingdom of heaven?
We Latter-day Saints are meticulously selective in picking our way among those verses of scripture that seem to support our economic position; but this passage, like many others to the same effect, must be taken as a whole.
Treasures in Heaven; Do Not Worry
Two treasuries, two masters, and a Father who feeds birds: offered not as consolation but as the ground for going out with nothing.
Tap a Gospel to show or hide its column. Narrow to any two to read them side by side.
Note. The JST turns this from general counsel into a missionary charge: before “take no thought for your life” it adds “go into the world and care not for the world… and your Heavenly Father will provide for you.” 3 Nephi addresses the same words to the Twelve alone.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust do corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; 21for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22The light of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye should be single to the glory of God, your whole body shall be full of light. 23But if your eye should be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light which is in you should be darkness, how great shall that darkness be.
24No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
25And again I say unto you, go into the world and care not for the world, for the world will hate you, and will persecute you, and will turn you out of their synagogues. Nevertheless, you shall go forth from house to house teaching the people, and I will go before you. And your Heavenly Father will provide for you whatever things you need, for food and what you shall eat, and for raiment, what you shall wear or put on.
Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than food and the body more than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? How much more will he not feed you?
Wherefore, take no thought for these things, but keep my commandments with which I have commanded you. 27For who of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why do you take thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, 29and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field — which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven — shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? how much more will he not provide for you, if you are not of little faith?
31Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, with what shall we be clothed? 32Why is it that you murmur among yourselves, saying, We cannot obey your word, because you have not all these things, and seek to excuse yourselves, saying that after all these things do the Gentiles seek? Behold, I say unto you that (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness Wherefore, seek not the things of this world, but seek first to build up the kingdom of God and to establish his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day shall be the evil thereof.
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and thieves break through and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal; 21for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.
24No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them, Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people.
Therefore, I say unto you, 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. Is not the life more than meat? And the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin; 29and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you if ye are not of little faith. 31Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.
19Don’t accumulate treasures on earth, where moths damage, rust corrodes, and thieves break in and steal, 20but instead accumulate treasures in Heaven, where there are no damaging moths, corrosive rust, and thieves don’t break in and steal; 21because what you treasure reveals what’s in your heart.
22The light enters the body through your eyes; if, therefore, your eyes look to God, your whole body is full of His light. 23But if your eye looks for evil, your whole body is then full of darkness. Therefore if the light within you looks for the darkness, how overwhelming that darkness becomes.
24No one can serve two masters, for they’ll either hate the one and love the other, or at least they’ll follow the one and ignore the other. You can’t serve God and covet.
25And now after Jesus said these words, He looked at the twelve He had chosen and said unto them: Remember the words I’ve spoken. Realize you are the ones I’ve chosen as ministers to this people.
Therefore I tell you: Don’t focus on yourself, worrying about what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, nor for yourself and what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food? And the body more than clothes? 26Notice the birds in the air. They don’t plant, nor do they harvest and store in barns, but your Heavenly Father feeds them. Don’t you matter more than them?
27Which of you, by wanting it, can add one inch to his height? 28And why do you think about clothing yourself? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. They make no effort to cover themselves; 29and yet I tell you even Solomon at the height of his glory wasn’t as splendid as one of these. 30Accordingly, if God clothes the grass of the field like that, which grows today and tomorrow is burned in an oven, He will also clothe you if you aren’t faithless. 31Therefore don’t worry and ask: What will we eat? Or, What will we drink? Or, What will we wear? 32For your Heavenly Father knows you need all these things. 33But you should first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be provided for you.
34Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, for the next day will have its demands. Each day will have enough challenges to occupy you.
If the Light Which Is in You Become Darkness
Joseph Smith never expounds the treasure, the two masters or the lilies, but he quotes verse 23 twice, both times about people losing light they once had, and both times from inside a disaster. The revelations do the rest, and one of them restates this passage almost whole.
If Your Eye Be Single to My Glory
D&C 88:67 (CCE T&C 86:12) · December 27–28, 1832 · scriptures.info ↗The JST supplies the words “to the glory of God” in verse 22; this revelation says the same thing in the first person, and adds what such a body can then do.
And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole body shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehends all things.
Take No Thought for the Morrow
D&C 84:81–85 (CCE T&C 82:25) · September 22–23, 1832 · scriptures.info ↗The passage restated almost entire, and, like the JST’s added verse 25 and like 3 Nephi, given to those sent out to preach rather than to everyone.
Therefore, take no thought for the morrow, for what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, or wherewith you shall be clothed. For consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin, and the kingdoms of the world, in all their glory, are not arrayed like one of these. For your Father who is in Heaven knows that you have need of all these things. Therefore, let the morrow take thought for the things of itself.
He That Will Not Receive the Greater Light
From the long letter on the parable of the sower: Joseph Smith reaches for verse 23 as the sealing proof of what unbelief costs.
Letter to the Elders of the Church, 30 November–1 December 1835, Messenger and Advocate (cf. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 94–97) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗They must be disappointed and lose even all the knowledge, or have taken away from them, all the light, understanding and faith, which they had upon this subject: therefore he that will not receive the greater light, must have taken away from him, all the light which he hath. And if the light which is in you, become darkness, behold how great is that darkness?
Look at the Dissenters
Three years later, in Liberty Jail, the same verse: now aimed at the men who had turned. The Joseph Smith Papers annotate this sentence to Matthew 6:23 and to its 3 Nephi parallel, the two columns set beside each other above.
Letter to the Church in Caldwell County, Missouri, 16 December 1838, Liberty Jail (cf. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 123–124) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗We have no retraction to make, we have reproved in the gate and men have laid snares for us we have spoken words and men have made us offenders, and notwithstanding all this our minds are not darkened but feel strong in the Lord. But behold the words of the savior, if the light which is in you become darkness behold how great is that darkness. Look at the dissenters.
Both items are letters, so neither has reporters’ records to compare. Joseph never comments on the treasure, the two masters, mammon, the lilies, Solomon, or “seek ye first”; where an index pairs his words with these verses, the pairing is an editor’s cross-reference, not his own citation. And although “an eye single to the glory of God” is a familiar Restoration phrase in his mouth, he never ties it to Matthew 6:22; it is the JST that puts those words into the verse.
When Are You Supposed to Stop Seeking the Kingdom?
Nibley returns to this passage more often than to any other in the Sermon, and always to make the same objection: that “seek ye first” is read as a sequence (kingdom now, prosperity later) when the Greek will not carry it. He is unsparing about what the passage actually forbids, and equally clear that the alternative is not destitution but provision.
The free lunch looms large in the Sermon on the Mount. First the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread”
(Matthew 6:11 [Matt. 3:29]); this comes with the understanding, expressed in the same sentence, that in return we are to show the same free and liberal spirit toward each other that he does to all of us: “And forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Next comes fasting, a most effective reminder of God’s generosity to us and also of our complete dependence on him, a thing to be joyfully acknowledged (Matthew 6:16-18 [Matt. 3:31]). Then an all-important principle; you cannot have it both ways, you cannot work for both employers, you cannot lay up treasures both on earth and in heaven—you cannot divide your heart between them; for to one master or the other you must give your whole and undivided devotion—both employers demand that, but only one of them can have it (Matthew 6:19-20 [Matt. 3:32]). You must go one way or the other, there can be no compromise. “No man can serve two masters”: love and hate cannot be divided up between them, “ye cannot serve God and Mammon,” mammon being to this day the regular Hebrew word for business, particularly money and banking (Matthew 6:22-24 [Matt. 3:33-34]). You must not yield to the enticings of that other master, nor let his threat of “no lunch if you leave my employ” intimidate you—you must ignore him and his arguments completely: “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet . . . what ye shall put on” (Matthew 6:25 [Matt. 3:35-36]). All such things are taken care of for God’s creatures: “Behold the fowls of the air, . . .
But the word for first, prōton, means first in every sense—first and foremost, before all else, in preference to all else, and so on. It usually refers to time, but not in this passage. We are not told to seek first the kingdom and then seek “all these things”; nothing whatever is said about seeking them except the explicit command not to seek them. There is no idea of a time sequence here: Does one ever stop seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness in this life, or was there ever a time before, during, or after a mission when one did not need food and clothing?… The same teachings of the Lord are summarized in Luke 12, where he makes it quite clear that the command to “take no thought” applies not only to the apostles but to the entire church (Luke 12:22 [Luke 8:23]).
The rest of the chapter is of great importance in explaining and expanding on the prayer. God is not just a model or example to follow in forgiving: only as far as we forgive others will he forgive us. If we don’t forgive them, he will not forgive us (Matthew 6:14–15 [Matt. 3:30]). We show our true feelings toward God in the way we treat people. Later on he emphasizes the principle, unto “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40 [Matt. 11:23]). The less important the person you help, the greater will be your blessing, for in helping such there is no ulterior motive or gain envisaged. It is interesting that the verse asking to be delivered from evil is immediately followed by a verse telling how we go about qualifying for such deliverance, “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Next, we are told not to be skythropos (dour, self-righteous). Make no effort to appear righteous; lean over backward not to, for your good deeds are a secret between you and God (Matthew 6:16–18 [Matt. 3:31]). And we are told to avoid coveting, or brosis, which is any kind of decay or consumption, oxidation, the fate of all material things. In the next verse the treasures in heaven definitely refer to the preexistence (v. 20). You have treasures up there without realizing it. They are waiting for you. According to a rich apocryphal literature, they are being kept on hold from your former existence, and one of the great tragedies of sin in this world is that you lose so much after having already won it. The theme continues. You cannot mingle the two worlds: “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (v. 21); you cannot “serve two masters” (v. 24); the Lord really means it when he says “take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink” (v. 25), etc. He knows that this is a radical doctrine that has upset the disciples, but he continues to force it on them: Food? He takes care of the birds. Clothes? Consider the lilies of the field. The trouble is, he tells them, they don’t have any faith, they should give it a try (see v. 32). The people of the world everywhere see the economy as the big problem, but as the Lord often told Israel, Christ now tells the disciples, “You are not to be like them.”
A live disagreement worth noticing: Nibley argues from Luke 12 that “take no thought” was meant for the whole church and not the apostles only, while the JST’s added verse 25, 3 Nephi 13:25 and T&C 82:25 all point the other way, narrowing it to those sent out to preach. He is arguing against a restriction that the other two columns on this page assume.
Seek First His Righteousness: And the Provision Follows
Barker reads tsedeq not as private virtue but as the covenant bond holding creation in order; distortion and decay are what happens when it fails. On that reading verse 33 is not a bargain but a description: restore the bond and the needs of creatures are met, because that is what the bond is for.
In crises such as this, they looked for the Righteous One to appear and restore the covenant (Isaiah 24.16 [Isa. 7:2]). Isaiah described the Servant, the Righteous One who would make many righteous and bear away their iniquities (Isaiah 53.11 [Isa. 19:3]). Making righteous meant removing the effects of distortion, enabling more people to become restorers… and Jesus himself taught his disciples not to worry about their material needs: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these thing shall be yours as well.” (Matthew 6.33 [Matt. 3:39]). When righteousness was restored to the creation, the needs of human beings would be met. Without righteousness, everything was destined to distortion and decay.
The Bible begins with the story of how God created the world and saw that it was good. Here are two fundamentals: that the world was no random accident, and that it was intended to be a good and beautiful place. There is a Creator, and the creation belongs to him. One of the best known psalms - the hymns sung in the Jerusalem temple - begins: ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and those who live there.’ (Ps.24.1 [Ps. 24:1]). The creation was established with wise laws and statutes, and so everything that the ingenuity of the human mind can discover about the world is part of an existing created system. All knowledge is knowledge of God. Human beings do not make the systems and the rules; they discover them, and have to work within them. Nor do human beings own what they discover; the very idea of patenting natural processes raises important questions. For practical reasons, they have to be patented to protect their commercial value, and here we see for the first time the conflict of ideals.
Jesus said that no one can serve two masters; you cannot serve God and Money (Matthew 6.24 [Matt. 3:34]).
Morality and Economics are the real clash of cultures in our present situation. It does not make economic sense to keep old people alive when they are no longer contributing to the economy, or to support the sick and the disabled. But we do. We recognise that there are other values. At the moment we apply these values to human society, but the time has come when we have to think about applying these values to the creation as a whole. Are some things simply wrong? Is the creation sacred too?
The Bible story says that the creation was completed in six days. There have been many controversies over this: should it be understood literally or symbolically? We cannot be certain, but what is certain is that the ancient Jews and later the Christians believed that the story of creation had to be represented in their place of worship. It took Moses six days to erect the tent for worship in the desert, and this corresponded to the six days of creation. The pattern of the great temple in Jerusalem was the same. This means that the temple represented the creation and the creation was the true temple. Just as the temple was sacred and the place where God was worshipped, so too the whole creation was sacred and the place where God was worshipped. To pollute the creation with human sin was as wicked as polluting the temple itself.
Jesus, when exhorting his followers to trust God, reminded them that the Creator cared for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air (Mt.6. 25-33; 10.29). This is how they thought of the Creator; not as a figure in the past who had completed the work and then left it; it was a picture of constant loving care. Adam, as the image of God, was expected to do this too.
Barker issues her own correction on this passage, twice, and it is worth carrying: “‘Consider the lilies of the field’ (Matt. 6.28) is not about creation care, but about trust in God to provide for us.” She has nothing on the single eye, on treasures in heaven, on mammon as a word, or on Solomon’s glory.