Do Not Worry

One of Henry Ward Beecher’s favorite stories was about a young man who was applying for a job in a New England factory. Asking for the owner, he found himself in the presence of a nervous, fidgety man who looked hopelessly dyspeptic. “The only vacancy here,” he told the … More

Worry

Jesus gives a command not to worry (v. 25). For Christians, worry and anxiety are forbidden, foolish and sinful. Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise of God. We may try to make it sound better by calling it concern, or burden, but the results are still the same. Adding doubt to the danger of possessions, Jesus now deals with the equally dangerous tendency of those who have no possessions: to worry! The implication of the test is that all anxiety is provoked by worrying about material and temporal things.

Jesus gives three illustrations of how foolish it is to worry about food, longevity and clothing. First He explains how birds do not sow, reap or stockpile food but God feeds them (v. 26).  If He carefully takes care of the birds He certainly will take care of His children who are made in His image. The second illustration has to do with life expectancy (v. 27). Our culture  seems to be obsessed with trying to lengthen life, yet worry is that which puts many into an early grave. Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands and the whole nervous system.

The third illustration uses flowers as a model (v. 28). It is an indictment of our day that so many waste so much on expensive clothes they will wear only a few times. If He clothes the flowers He will certainly supply us with the clothes we need. Solomon with all his wealth was not as well clothed (v. 29) God gives such beauty to everything that grows (v. 30). Don’t worry about what we eat or drink (v. 31). Only people who don’t know God worry (v. 32), your Father knows what you need (v. 33).To make reasonable provisions for tomorrow is sensible but to be anxious for tomorrow is foolish (v. 34). 

Application

What material needs (not wants) do I have right now? What have I worried about in the past that I shouldn’t have? What do I have that I haven’t turned over to the Lord?

Matthew 6:25-34 (English Standard Version)


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