25 “Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? 27 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life?Insert scripture here
Reflection
Verses 25 – 34 have the title “Worry About Necessities” in my bible. All of Jesus’ words in Chapter 6 are valuable for a full understanding. Verses 25 – 27, and also verses 28 – 31, speak to Pastor Joe’s message concerning contentment. How can any of us be contented if we are always worrying?
Jesus asks us why we are concerned about food, drink, and clothing. If we are concerned about these things should we also not be concerned about a home for ourselves and family, their education, insurance, and working to pay the bills?
Jesus puts these questions to us to get our attention I believe. I say that because, in verse 33 and 34, he tells us that something must come before our worldly concerns, “Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
One of my Study Bible resources explains it this way:
God’s kingdom is lived out from the perspective of heaven, not earth. That’s why Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you” (Matt 6:33). We need to see that God has a plan and purpose for our lives that goes beyond the material. If we lose sight of the eternal nature of God’s plan for each of us we can get lost and we start to focus on only the tangible. When that happens, our judgment begins to be skewed, and our decisions can become shortsighted.
Put another way Jesus teaching wants us to focus on God rather than the pursuit of wealth. It shows us that focusing on accumulation, wealth, and status generate anxiety about material things. God’s Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit should shape our identity and lifestyle. Jesus’ words are not meant to forbid our providing essentials for life.
by Clarence Beverage
For Pondering and Prayer
It would seem that contentment is associated with our values. God’s presence and the substance of his word is constant and never changing. If that is true, do we need to be chasing after things?
I can’t imagine that anyone can say that they are not anxious at some time or times. Could we be less so by consciously focusing on God’s values for our lives first and then know that what is needed is aligned with God’s desires for our lives?
Prayer: Holy Lord God, God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference. We pray these words in Jesus name. Amen.
