Bigger Fish to Fry
When I read the life of Jesus and His ministry, I notice something. He cared nothing for His life. I don't just mean when He died on the cross and literally sacrificed His life, I mean His daily life. Food, clothing, shelter, even the paying of taxes. We don't see Him running around in panic wondering how He would feed Himself, His disciples and, even at times, thousands of people that would come to listen to Him preach. He didn't fret and get anxious when needs arose. Why? Because He wasn't in charge of that. His Father was. It was His Father's job to take care of Jesus. And Jesus had so completely surrendered His life to the Father that He knew whatever the occasion, whatever the need, His Dad would cover it. Period.
Honestly, I have to laugh how even nonchalant He was about it. When I read the scripture of how He paid the Temple tax, I get a sense that He barely batted an eye over it. haha He simply told His disciples to go fishing and find the fish that had been holding a coin for Him (for who knows how long!) and go pay what was demanded. Wow, we see what care the Father had for Jesus and how He made preparations for everything in Jesus' life so that when Jesus needed it, He would have it -- right down to a fish swallowing some money for safe keeping for Jesus. what??? haha
Can I tell you how much I appreciate the fact that Jesus lived out what He preached? He walked the talk. He wasn't telling the people to trust the Father, while He, Himself, was balled up in a corner somewhere worrying about His own life. On the contrary! He was ABLE to preach His message because He KNEW His Father and watched how His Father provided every step of the way!
And Jesus understood this: There were bigger fish to fry! His goal in life was not to see if He could stay alive and manage earthly living. No! His eyes were set much higher! His eyes were set on the lost sheep! His eyes were set on doing the Father's will. His eyes were set on the cross. He didn't allow the cares of the world to distract Him from what was most important -- His mission to be the Savior of the world! Can you imagine if Jesus got so distracted with daily living that He lost sight of His whole reason for coming to earth?? Goodness!!! Thankfully He didn't!
And neither should we. We live in a world that demands a lot from us. We live under a system that continuously burdens us with financial demands. As Christians, we are tested everyday to trust our heavenly Father to provide every need so we, too, can keep our eyes on what is most important. Like Jesus, we must remember not to get so distracted with daily living that we forget our heavenly purpose. There are bigger fish to fry!
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On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?”
“Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?”
“They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied.
“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”
Matthew 17:24-27 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.17.24-27.NLT
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