Don’t Worry
“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 important than food, and the body more important 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Matthew 6:25-27
Martin Luther once remarked that God has made the sparrows our teachers. They do not produce the means by which their lives are sustained. And yet they do not worry about where their next meal will come from. They live in the moment, trusting, in their simple way, that they will find what they need. And to a very great extent they do find what they need. Is it too much to say that they depend upon providence?
Jesus’ point is not to construct a theology for the birds, but to point out how foolish it is for us to worry. If God takes care of the birds, then He can take care of us. In some ways the illustration does not go far enough. Individual birds may succumb to hunger or cold, but God will not lose a single person. We belong to Him. So, why worry?
Some commentators have taken Jesus’ words to mean that we need do nothing for ourselves, that is, that God will provide. That is true with regard to our salvation, but it is certainly not true of our discipleship.[1] We are not to presume upon God. we have responsibilities to keep. Waiting on God’s provision can be a very selfish way to live. This was not Jesus’ intention. We are to live, gratefully, as those who have received so much from our Father’s hands. And we are not to think that everything depends upon us! Citizens of the Kingdom of God are well aware that, in all things, they must rely, utterly and totally, upon God.
Interestingly, the last phrase of verse 27 can be translated, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” or “… can add a cubit to his height?” You cannot make yourself taller, but God did it for you as you grew through childhood to adolescence and beyond. Neither will worrying add to your days. You simply must learn to hand over to God, and to trust Him.
Eternal God,
Before time began, You were.
After time has ended, You will be.
Eternity is yours.
And now, in the time between the beginning and the end,
You are the everlasting One.
All my days I give to You.
Use them for Your glory.
Amen.
“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 important than food, and the body more important 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Matthew 6:25-27
Martin Luther once remarked that God has made the sparrows our teachers. They do not produce the means by which their lives are sustained. And yet they do not worry about where their next meal will come from. They live in the moment, trusting, in their simple way, that they will find what they need. And to a very great extent they do find what they need. Is it too much to say that they depend upon providence?
Jesus’ point is not to construct a theology for the birds, but to point out how foolish it is for us to worry. If God takes care of the birds, then He can take care of us. In some ways the illustration does not go far enough. Individual birds may succumb to hunger or cold, but God will not lose a single person. We belong to Him. So, why worry?
Some commentators have taken Jesus’ words to mean that we need do nothing for ourselves, that is, that God will provide. That is true with regard to our salvation, but it is certainly not true of our discipleship.[1] We are not to presume upon God. we have responsibilities to keep. Waiting on God’s provision can be a very selfish way to live. This was not Jesus’ intention. We are to live, gratefully, as those who have received so much from our Father’s hands. And we are not to think that everything depends upon us! Citizens of the Kingdom of God are well aware that, in all things, they must rely, utterly and totally, upon God.
Interestingly, the last phrase of verse 27 can be translated, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” or “… can add a cubit to his height?” You cannot make yourself taller, but God did it for you as you grew through childhood to adolescence and beyond. Neither will worrying add to your days. You simply must learn to hand over to God, and to trust Him.
Eternal God,
Before time began, You were.
After time has ended, You will be.
Eternity is yours.
And now, in the time between the beginning and the end,
You are the everlasting One.
All my days I give to You.
Use them for Your glory.
Amen.
[1] Proverbs 19:15
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