Do We Take Care?
Isaiah 46:4: “I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is grey. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you“.
It is a common thing to hear people say “take care”, which is intended to be a friendly gesture often spoken without a great deal of forethought or real intent behind the saying. The actual meaning of “take care” is to take care of yourself.
When 2 John 1:10 was written the author shows they had a different manner of wishing a “take care” type message which was reserved for their Christian brothers. The bidding of God speed to others is to express a desire that God grant prosperity and success to another person., they said: “God speed.” There is quite a difference in the two verbal gestures since one wishes for you to take care of yourself and the other wishes for God to take care of you. We are told in Philippians 4:6 to be careful for nothing; meaning to not be anxious about the things in our present life, but trust God through prayer telling Him that you need His help and He will keep your hearts and minds in peace through Christ Jesus.
Who Should Take Care?
The people who do not believe in God have only the hope of taking care of themselves, for them “take care” is a normal positive application for life and a positive gesture. You should not bid Gods Speed to people who don’t believe in God or the doctrine of Christ, which means you wish him Gods blessings of success and prosperity. These blessings of success and prosperity are intended for the seed of Abraham. We are told these blessings come upon the gentiles through faith. But if you say God bless you to an unbeliever these are powerful words that allow God to work in their life and maybe help to change them.
The people who know Jesus as savior would want God’s blessings and protection so always bid them Gods Speed. We want God to take care of us and protect us wherever go and oversee whatever we do. (1 Peter 5:7) Christians are told that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13) By bidding Gods Speed we express all of our hopes for God’s protection and strength to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
God Can Take Care of You
There is no need to correct a person who bids you to “take care”, the best thing to do is to tell God your intentions are not to take care of yourself, but you are claiming His care and protection for you instead. The Bible tells us to cast all our cares upon the Lord for He cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7) It is a good thing to always give your cares to God even when a friend had wished you to take care of yourself. By giving your cares to God, you open the door for the scriptural promises of God to activate in your life.
Beloved trust God to take care of you and make your way prosperous. God is with you wherever you go and He will not leave you or forsake you, so in all your ways acknowledge Him. God is the one who said He would take care of you so go in Gods Speed. (Proverbs 3:6, Hebrews 13:5)
