The Hitchhiker’s Guide (17)

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?”  Matthew 6:25  NASB

Do not be worried – We often read Yeshua’s words in the context of anxiety relief.  Why worry about life when God is in charge?  The birds don’t fret.  The flowers don’t agonize.  We can’t even control the growth of our own hair.  Tomorrow is not in our hands.  So, relax under the sovereignty of God Almighty.

But perhaps there’s more to this verse than acknowledging divine sovereignty.  Yes, we shouldn’t worry about the future circumstances of our lives, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be serious.  Let me explain.

The things Yeshua mentions in his litany of anxiety-causing conditions are all functions of the yetzer ha’ra.  Eating, drinking, clothing, shelter, safety—all necessary for survival and all within the purview of the yetzer ha’ra.  Not evil acts, just real needs.  But soon the yetzer ha’ra expands its territory by subtly adding to these survival needs.  Now it’s not eating; it’s eating well—and in abundance.  Now it’s not drinking; it’s drinking the best.  Not being clothed but being clothed in brand name luxury.  You get the picture.  Seeking the Kingdom first is not an invitation to asceticism.  It’s an invitation to serious evaluation.  “What is at issue is the need for a serious confrontation with elements of the yetzer ha-ra that are most powerful and require the most effort to transform.”[1]  And what are those elements?  What are the arenas where we’ve been strengthening the yetzer ha’ra  most of our lives?  Food, shelter, safety, sex, wealth, power.  All legitimate.  All reasonable.  All subject to expansion into the danger zone.  “Just give me these in unlimited quantity,” says the yetzer ha’ra, “and I will make you happy.”  That’s what we want, right?  Happiness.  Carefree living.  So, why not collect the best and the most along the way?  The yetzer ha’ra doesn’t appeal to gross immorality.  It isn’t that stupid.  All that’s necessary is to ask for a bit more of what is required—and a bit more—and a bit more.  “Seek first the Kingdom” isn’t a spiritual exercise.  It’s a serious evaluation of priorities in daily life.  “Seek first the Kingdom” isn’t about more prayer, more tithes, more attendance, more Bible reading.  It’s about clearly understanding the desires of the yetzer ha’ra that have turned into needs, and the distractions and distortions that transition has created in our lives.  It’s about recognizing how we’ve subtly encouraged the unfettered consumption of the yetzer ha’ra and how our lack of discipline has hampered the development of the yetzer ha’tov.

Now would be a good time to remind ourselves of the crucial standard for this examination.  “The question we ask ourselves in this meditative process is: ‘How did our success or failure to realize this middah [personal trait or virtue] affect the other person?’ not ‘How did this make me feel?’”[2]   We must learn to “reengage our yetzer ha-tov, our desire to serve another before ourselves, without denying the legitimacy of the yetzer ha-ra.”[3]  The balance on the way to the center of the target.  What is the bull’s eye?  Devotion to God in this world.  There’s no point in denying those yetzer ha’ra needs.  They’re real—and necessary.  But they need to be managed according to the purposes of the yetzer ha’tov—a management process that takes all of our lives to perfect.

Don’t rush it.  You and I have spent most of our lives pursuing desires disguised as needs.  Most of us have never experienced being in dire need.  We just fall somewhere on the Bell curve of desires converted to needs.  Now we must unpack those subtle conversions of desire into need, one at a time, carefully—to make sure we aren’t slipping in a bit of the illegitimate function of the yetzer ha’ra along the way.  And then?  Well, then we practice the reengaged yetzer ha’tov.  We do for others what we have learned to do for ourselves.

Step 17:  Unpack your needs.  See if they’re really desires in disguise.

Topical Index: yetzer ha’ra, desire, need, seek, Kingdom, anxiety, Matthew 6:25

[1] Ira F. Stone, in Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim: The Path of the Upright, p. 158.

[2] Ira F. Stone, “Introduction,” in Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim: The Path of the Upright, p. xix.

[3] Ibid., p. xviii.