Matthew 6:25-34 (The Sermon on the Mount, Part XII)

Do Not Worry
This passage is one of my favorites in the New Testament. It is full of reassurance for us in our Earthly life. I'll admit I've had to come back to it time and time again when under stress over the little things in life. Here, Jesus tells us not to worry for life is more important than what we eat or wear. He is control, he loves us and considers us very valuable to him (verse 26). He also points how the utter futility of worry, and now it is not productive and does little to help us in this life. Christ points to nature and how God provides for all his creation, so why shouldn't he provide even more for his dear children? At the end of verse 30, Christ points to what the real issue is here. Worry is a direct result of a lack of faith. You cannot completely trust Christ and worry! You either believe that he loves you and will care for you, or you worry that everything rests on your shoulders alone. Should we be responsible for our lives? Should we make plans and act on them? But of course! But to lose hours of sleep, have declining health and being generally unruly over things that we don't control shows us that our hearts are not trusting God to provide. He knows what we need (verse 32) so all we need to do is focus our energy in serving him and his kingdom and God will provide all our necessities in many ways. Finally, Jesus closes this topic by again commanding us not to worry, because by worrying we might miss out on things that we need to work on today. Each day has its challenges and we need not add more to it by needlessly worrying over the future.