Our materialistic and consumerist culture shouts to us that the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts provides security and satisfaction. The struggle and pull of materialism and consumerism is not something new. In fact, this was also a prevalent issue in the world and culture of Jesus day. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus attacks this head on. He believers to not be controlled by the rampant materialism and controlling consumerism of our day, but to be freed from its tendrils in order to be truly satisfied in God and His work.
We live in a culture of great abundance that emphasizes indulgence and comfort. In such a culture, fasting is a foreign concept around which there is much confusion. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls believers to fast so that it is not only a reflection of a heart that is hungry and thirsty for God, but also will increase that hunger and thirst.
The busyness of our lives often results in our forgetting that believers are surrounded by the lost. It is too easy to adopt an unintentional complacancy and apathy for the lost. God calls us to adopt how He feels about the lost.