Introduction
‘Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Matthew 6:25-34
Do Not Worry
As we enter this part section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we find that He addresses the subject of worry in a most powerful way. Jesus’ use of the word ‘therefore’ indicates that He is drawing a conclusion from His thoughts in Matthew 6:19-24, namely, that we must live for God and not for the world. We must trust God and not physical riches.
When Jesus stated, ‘do not worry about your life,’ Matthew 6:25, He wasn’t making a suggestion, He was giving a command that we ought to obey. Jesus wouldn’t command us not to worry, if it wasn’t possible.
Worry is a pain we inflict upon ourselves that does not have to be there. Are you like me? You could break the commandment not worry, several times before you even get out of bed in the morning, Matthew 6:25 / Philippians 4:6.
If we are spiritually perceptive, we will realise that life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing, Matthew 6:25. After all, earthly riches can provide food and clothing, but only God can give life and a body. Since God is the giver of both life and body, certainly He is capable of sustaining the one and covering the other.
Jesus strengthens His argument by referring to the ‘birds of the air’, Matthew 6:25. They never plant, they never harvest, and they never stockpile for later. They don’t ‘treasure’ earthly things as man does, yet God takes care of them and provides for all their needs!
Surely, He will do the same for us since we are ‘of more value than they’, Matthew 6:25. We are of more value than the birds and other animals because we are made in God’s image and because of our potential to serve. Jesus wants us to trust in God’s providence. God will feed us before He feeds His birds!
Because of the previous facts, He has mentioned, Jesus asks what good does it do to worry? Matthew 6:27. Worrying is useless and nothing productive is accomplished by it. It can’t make us one inch taller, it can’t make us live one day longer, but it can shorten our lives.
Worrying has never been prescribed as a solution to a problem! Imagine a doctor recommending worrying to solve our ulcer! Imagine a preacher rebuking us for neglecting to engage in our daily worrying. Imagine a teacher urging their students to go home and worry about the test.
What good is it going to do us to worry? We are inflicting ourselves with a pain that is absolutely useless and does not help us one iota. Life is so much more than what we worry about, and worry indicates that I am allowing the external to dominate the eternal on my priority list.
If I’m counting on God not to change His mind on Judgement Day about my salvation, Romans 8:1, why do I live like He’s going to change His mind tomorrow about what I need? We act like we believe in a God that can provide salvation, but nothing else.
Despite the fact, that He gives testimony through nature, that He can provide, Matthew 6:26 / Matthew 6:28. In the months ahead we will see the grass grow, the birds fly, the flowers bloom and the trees bud.
The Bible says we are in the hands of God, He opens up His hands and provides every living thing with what it needs, and we are in good hands with God, Psalm 145:16.
We should put forth the effort to dress modestly, but there is no need to worry about attire. The lilies of the field are some of the most beautiful things on Earth, yet they do not worry or work at it, God ‘clothes’ them, Matthew 6:28-29.
If God clothes the lilies which neither labour nor spin and if He clothes them more beautifully than Solomon in all his glory, then, how much more will He clothe His people? Matthew 6:30. Worry betrays a false view of human beings as if we were only machines that need to be fuelled and lubricated.
We are bombarded daily with adverts that intentionally create anxiety, with the message that we are nothing more than complex machines which require maintenance.
They tell us we need new clothes, we need a new brand of mobile phone, we need a new home, we need a new car, we need a different shaped tea bag. And if we buy these things and take care of our machine, we might get a few more miles out of it.
Jesus is here to tell us that we are more than that, we are more than just a machine to be maintained. He says that kind of orientation is absurdly unworthy of what a human being really is and He is calling us to a higher ambition. The problem with worry is it makes us forget the promises of God.
Trusting God to meet our needs doesn’t mean we don’t have to work, working is one way God gives us the ability to provide, He gives us the ability to work, Romans 8:32.
It doesn’t mean we ignore other people’s needs, when we see a need we shouldn’t say, ‘Trust in God, He’ll meet our needs’, God could be meeting that need through our generosity.
Worrying is unnecessary for the person who has faith that fully relies upon and trusts God! Who will deny that God has made the fields and flowers beautiful? If the Lord does that for something that will be burned up as fuel in an oven, will He not provide for His children’s needs even better?
Jesus begins summarising, stating that we ought not to worry about the necessities of life. God’s care for the flowers and birds, Matthew 6:28-29, should teach us to expect that He will show more interest in providing for those who have been fashioned for eternity, Matthew 6:31. After all, God gave His Son for us, why would He withhold the necessities of life? Romans 8:31-32.
Worrying is unbecoming of true disciples. It’s perhaps to be expected that those who are not believers in God would have life’s necessities as their main interest, but Jesus tells His followers that they have a heavenly Father who will provide these things for them, and they are to trust Him to provide.
This is the case because He is both knowledgeable of our needs and able to supply them. Jesus also shows worry to be destructive. Worry robs us of our spiritual values and encourages us to focus on things in this world.
An example of this can be seen in Luke 10:38-42. Martha was more concerned about being a good host, rather than learning as a disciple, her worrying wasn’t good. Today, many still allow worry to interfere with being the kind of disciples that God would have them to be.
What makes a pagan? Matthew 6:32. A pagan looks for life in the external, instead of the eternal. The pagan might be the politest, kindest, decent person we have ever met but, he’s a pagan and he’s looking for life in all the wrong places. And if we are trying to find life in the external, we will worry.
If a person seeks only the material things of life, they will likely find them, but they cannot expect the spiritual. However, if a person seeks that which is spiritual, then they can expect both. That is a wonderful promise from God!
Notice, Jesus didn’t say ‘Stop seeking,’ Matthew 6:33. That’s not the issue, the issue is, what are we going to seek this week? He tells us the thing we should want most and that is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants. We will worry tomorrow, not because our problems are too big, but because our goals are too small.
We were meant for more than just preserving the body beautiful; we were created to enjoy and to promote the Rulership of God in the world. If that is our priority, we can see that goal, which is truly worthy of what a human being really is. We can seek that goal no matter what happens.
Illness can come and we can still seek the goal of enjoying and promoting the kingdom of God. We can lose our job or a loved one through a divorce or death, an investment can go wrong. But nothing can happen to us tomorrow that can keep us from the goal that is worthy of who we really are.
Jesus didn’t say, we won’t have problems, but He did say that every day has its own troubles, Matthew 6:34. God knows what we need and God is faithful, God will see to it that we have everything we need to put His kingdom first. God’s going to make sure everything we need to be what He’s designed us to be and to pursue what He wants us to pursue, we will have.
Jesus said, ‘seek first the kingdom of God,’ Matthew 6:34. Literally, this means we are to ‘keep on seeking’. To seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness is to endeavour to live a godly, obedient life at any cost, a life that glorifies God in the church, Ephesians 3:21, which is His kingdom, Matthew 16:18-19.
To accomplish this is to live by the principles set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, as well as the rest of the New Testament. To be worried about matters of life implies that we don’t trust God completely. If we don’t trust God fully, then our treasures are on the Earth and our master is money, Matthew 6:19-24.
Such a person may be seeking the kingdom partially, but such is not sufficient. God doesn’t want to hold second or third place, or even lower, in our lives. He expects that we make Him our number one priority! Mark 12:30.
The fact is that all of our worrying will not give us control of tomorrow, it will only make us miserable today, Matthew 6:34. It’s foolish to attempt to anticipate tomorrow’s troubles today and to try to bear them today. As we noted earlier, much of our unhappiness arises from the dread of that which never comes to pass.
If there is one thing we should start tomorrow, it should be to improve our prayer lives. The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. Can you imagine what would happen if we spent more time praying instead of worrying?
We would have much less to worry about. We can’t control tomorrow, politicians can’t control tomorrow, our friends and family can’t control tomorrow but God can.
It should be noted that there is a big difference between worrying about the future and preparing for it to the best of our ability. All are to be good stewards of God’s entrusted blessings, but none should worry about tomorrow if they are doing their best to serve God faithfully today.
God will always listen to any of our problems and by improving our prayer lives we are recognizing that it’s God that controls tomorrow, not us. When we pray, we receive the greatest cure for worry, we experience the touch of the eternal. God is going to respond to our prayers when we talk to Him about our concerns.
He will do something about that concern if it’s in accordance with His will and He is going to send us a peace that cannot be explained away.
When we pray, God sends us a peace that we simply cannot understand because it’s beyond our understanding. God protects us from unnecessary worry, when we turn the worry over to Him and leave that worry with Him, Philippians 4:6-7.
The word ‘worry’ is used repeatedly in this context, and if God is truly our Master, then there is no need to have anxiety or doubt regarding anything, God will take care of us, Romans 8:28.
The worrier doubts and is double-minded, such a person is unstable and lacking in faith, James 1:6-8. Such a person fails to realise the benefits and peace of mind that come from relying upon God and not upon physical riches or ourselves, Philippians 4:6-7.
I find it interesting that the Greek word for ‘worry’ is the word, ‘merimnao’ which basically means distraction. Read through Matthew 6:25-34 again but instead of reading the word ‘worry’ replace it with the word ‘distraction’. When you do this, I believe this puts a whole new perspective on what Jesus is teaching us here.
He’s saying we shouldn’t allow ourselves to get distracted by the everyday needs of our lives, God will take care of them for us. He doesn’t want us to get distracted, but He wants us to stay focused on serving God in His kingdom and continue to seek His righteousness.
The same idea is found in 1 Peter 5:7. ‘Peter literally says, ‘cast all our distractions upon God, because God won’t be distracted from meeting your needs.’
Perhaps this is what Peter had in mind because the word ‘worry’ or ‘anxiety’ is the Greek word ‘merimna’ and it means ‘distraction’. Peter and Jesus are both saying, don’t let your basic everyday needs distract you from seeking God’s kingdom today.
Turn your worries over to God, 1 Peter 5:7, means to let go of it, let God take care of our distractions because He’s not going to get distracted from meeting your needs.
We will still have those things on our mind, but when we give them to God, we won’t be controlled by our anxieties because we trust God to take care of them for us. We might as well give our worries over to Someone who can do something about tomorrow because we can’t.
Do you know that doctors are prescribing more and more drugs for anxiety than any other illness? Do you know that the single most common sin that will steal our joy is the sin of worry? Worry is the fine we pay when we look for life in all the wrong places.
When we look for life in things that weren’t intended to give life, worry will be the tragic, yet inevitable result. We’re all created by God to need something to live for, something to give meaning to our existence and something to set our hearts upon.
Is worry a problem in your life? This next part examines what Jesus taught about worrying and offers some practical suggestions for overcoming it. There are many enemies of the mind, but worry may be the most destructive.
Some have compared worry to a rocking chair, it gives us something to do but does not get us anywhere! Worry has also been likened to an old man with a bent head, carrying a load of feathers which he thinks are led.
Worrying is a serious problem in the 21st century. If we allow it, worry can destroy us by slowly taking over our minds and bodies! People worry about most anything and everything. For instance, people worry about things that have already happened.
Such is pointless since the past cannot be changed. One should learn from the past, seek forgiveness on God’s terms when sin has been committed, and move on, that’s what the apostle Paul did, Philippians 3:13.
People also worry about things that will inevitably happen. Many fear growing older or dying, but again, such is futile. Rather than worrying about these matters, it would be better to simply prepare for them to the best of our ability.
We must remember that death is not the end, Hebrews 9:27, and that there are blessings to be had in old age, 2 Corinthians 4:16. Additionally, people worry about things that will never happen. The fact that most of our fears will never come to pass should help us understand the futility of worrying.
Mark Twain once said, ‘I have worried over a great many things in life, the most of which never happened’.
Finally, people worry about things that God has already taken care of. In Mark 16:3, the women who went to anoint Jesus’ body early Sunday morning expressed concern over who would move the stone away from the tomb. As it turned out, God had already taken care of the matter.
Can we trust God to provide our daily needs like food, drink and clothes? Matthew 6:31. Didn’t God supply food every day for His people in the wilderness? Exodus 16:4.
Didn’t God supply water for His people to drink in the wilderness? Exodus 17:6. Didn’t God miraculously preserve their clothes and shoes for forty years? Deuteronomy 29:5.
How often does He share His compassion with us? Every day, every morning, Lamentations 3:22-23. When Jesus taught the people how to pray, He told them to pray for their daily bread, Matthew 6:11.
How many times have we missed today’s blessings by worrying about tomorrow’s possibilities? Worrying is a sin because it makes us miss today’s grace. God gave us food today, He gave us clothes today, He gave us friends today and a place to worship today. Are we missing our reason to rejoice today because of something that might happen tomorrow?
Don’t let tomorrow keep us from living today fully, Psalm 118:24. We’ve got today to hug our kids or kiss our wife or husband. We’ve got today to give someone a smile.
We’ve got today to make a new friend or do something for an elderly person. We’ve got today to read our Bibles and get down on our knees to worship God.
Jesus says, don’t let food, drink, clothes or even tomorrow distract us from serving God today because He’ll take care of those things for us.
I don’t know what will come to each and every one of us tomorrow. I don’t know what distractions will come our way, but I do know that when worry knocks, we don’t have to let it in, we can let faith in instead. Wouldn’t it make more sense to give our worries and our life over to Someone who can control tomorrow?
