Our primary passage today will be from Matthew chapter 6; but from time to time, I will reference Luke 12:22-32, which is a gospel parallel, or what we might call Luke’s recollection of events.
E. Stanley Jones, a missionary to India in the early 1900’s, stated, “I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is grasping for breath – these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely – these are my native air.”(1) Jones had a better quality of life through faith than by worry. In fact, he said that worry caused him to feel as though he were grasping for breath; and there are many believers who feel this way today.
Park Tucker, a prison chaplain in Atlanta, Georgia, tells us, “Many people are walking around half-dead because worry has built a mountain of problems over which there is no path, and they have surrendered to fate.”(2) Worry causes us to feel as though we are gasping for breath and walking around half-dead. In fact, the English word “worry” comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word that means “to strangle.”(3)
Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”(4) If you are going through some dilemma or problem in life and find yourself completely immersed in that situation trying to come up with a solution, and you tend to think about it day and night, then you know all too well how worry feels. Worry can zap our life and drain our strength; and in our message this morning we are going to see that, in order to have true life in the Lord, we must place all our cares and burdens in the hands of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Pt 5:7).
Worrying About Food and Clothing (v. 25)
25 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
There are two things that are abundant in America – food and clothing. In John 10:10, Jesus spoke about having abundant life; and if a person could ever have abundance, it would be in today’s western culture and society. But, Jesus was referring to abundant spiritual life, and not material things.
We have so much available food that people are using it as a substitute for life, trying to fill their emptiness with an addiction to food, resulting in rampant obesity and major health issues. We are presented with so much temptation today to wear the latest fashion, that some people will spend most of their income on clothing, and then have to “worry” about how to meet the other expenses in life.
It is strange that in a place where you find an abundance of food and clothing that we worry so much. You might expect it in a poverty-stricken nation; however, we cannot seem to wait for the next morsel of food, or the next big shopping spree! We think these things will bring us happiness and satisfaction, but once we obtain them, we are still empty with a deep void inside.
In 1 Timothy 6:8, the apostle Paul said, “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” We should be content and satisfied with the food on our table and the clothing on our body; however, here in American, people seem dissatisfied. We worry about acquiring these things, because we think they will bring us fulfillment, but they cannot. In verse 25, Jesus said that “Life [is] more than food, and the body [is] more than clothing.”
In John chapter six, we read how Jesus fed five thousand people from five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6:4-14). The very next day the people came looking for Him, and He shared with them these words: “You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you . . . I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:26-27, 35). You see, life is more than food; for true, abundant, and fulfilling life is found in Jesus!
Life is also more than clothing, and what we “put on” (v. 25). This expression “put on,” in verse 25, is found elsewhere in the Bible in reference to how a believer should "clothe himself" in Christ. For example, Paul admonished the believers in Rome, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rom 13:14). Paul informed the believers in Colossae to “put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col 3:14), and noted that when they did, the peace of God would rule in their hearts and they would be thankful (3:15); once again revealing that spiritual satisfaction and abundant life is found in Jesus, not in earthly things!
In Luke 12:15, Jesus said, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” If we want to avoid fretting over material things and possessions, then we need to refocus our attention on Jesus Christ. In Acts 3:15, He is called the “author of life” (NIV). He came to bring us, not only eternal life, but abundant life as well; and worry is a far cry from abundant life.
Worrying Will Not Add to Life (vv. 26-30)
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Jesus provided some examples of God’s provision that we can observe all around us each and every day. He explained how the birds do not plant fields, tend crops, or reap a harvest, and yet they are still fed; and the flowers do not do any work, or spin wool to make clothing for themselves, and yet their beautiful colors are more glorious than the fine clothing of a king like Solomon. He then pointed out that God is the one who feeds the birds and makes the flowers beautiful.
If we are making it a point to love Jesus, and we are following Him and serving Him to the best of our ability, then all our needs will be met. They key word that I want to emphasize is “needs,” or the necessities of life. Many times, when we fret about food and clothing, we are striving to fill an insatiable and irrational desire for more than we really need to live on.
If we ever have a real need, and if we ever wind up in a tough spot while serving the Lord, then God will supply our needs. In Philippians 4:19, Paul said, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” So, there is no point worrying, as the Lord will supply all our basic needs.
Jesus asked, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6:27). “The length of the cubit makes it 20.24 inches for the ordinary cubit, and 21.88 inches for the sacred one.”(5) Jesus basically asked how a person can add nearly two feet to his height by worrying about it. The answer is that no one can; and the point He was making is that worrying does not amount to anything being added to one’s life.
We worry because we think that we can add things to our life (good things, or the things we want), but worry results in anguish and feelings of being torn apart. It does not add to one’s life; but rather, it subtracts from life; and it drains us emotionally and spiritually, and it sucks the life right out of us!
In verse 27, when Jesus asked, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Luke 12:25), the gospel writer Luke records Jesus as following this statement with these thought-provoking words in Luke 12:26: “If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?” In other words, worrying about getting taller does not result in growing taller. If worrying cannot change something small, then it certainly will not change something big.
Here, in Matthew 6:28, Jesus asked, “So why do you worry about clothing?” How can worrying about food and clothing, or rather, having monetary abundance, result in obtaining it? Since worry cannot change our circumstances or our bank account, then it is a complete waste of time and emotional energy.
Jesus said, “O you of little faith” (v. 30). Hebrews tells us about faith, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (11:1). If we worry then we are simply not putting our faith in God, for faith is just the opposite of worry. In worry we perceive the future and try to take matters into our own hands. In faith we perceive the future, but turn it over to God and place it in His hands.
We place the future in God’s hands, knowing that He “will” provide and that He is “able” to provide. In Romans 8:32, we read, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Since God provided for mankind’s greatest need, which is salvation from sin; then it stands to reason that He can provide for the much smaller things in life as well. Amen?
The World Is Anxious and Fearful (vv. 31-34)
31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
In verse 31, Jesus said “do not worry” about what you should eat, drink or wear. I want to reference the gospel of Luke for a moment. In Luke 12:29, we read where Jesus said not to “seek” what we should eat or drink; meaning, we should not be obsessed about acquiring these things and chasing after them. The reason why is because this is what the Gentiles do, according to Matthew (v. 32). This is their behavior. In Luke 12:30, Jesus said, “For all these things the nations of the world seek after.” All the nations of the earth live in fear and anxiety over material things. But as believers in Christ, we are supposed to live with expectancy and trust in God’s provision.
Commentator Warren Wiersbe says, “[Worry] keeps us from growing and it makes us like the unsaved in the world . . . How can we witness to a lost world and encourage them to put faith in Jesus Christ if we ourselves are doubting God and worrying?” He says that it is inconsistent to preach faith and not practice it.(6) If we are living in worry then we are failing to exhibit abundant life in Christ. As believers, we are supposed to help people find life in the Lord, but if we are devoid of life ourselves through worry, acting no different from the rest of the world, then we will be of no effect; or worse, ill-effect to those around us.
In Luke 12:29, Jesus is recorded as having said, “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.” So, the “Gentiles” (Matthew 6:32) and the “nations” (Luke 12:30) seek after food and clothing and, as a result, they have an “anxious mind.” Many times, in the Bible, we read that the Lord “scattered the nations” (cf. Genesis 11:8-9; Isaiah 33:3); and if we live in continual worry, then we too will feel scattered, torn apart and divided.
The renowned preacher Henry Ward Beecher, shared the following true account. He said, “Last week I met a brother who, describing a friend of his, said he was like a man who had dropped a bottle, and broken it, and put all the pieces in his bosom, where they were cutting him perpetually. I have seen persons with troubles and cares that seemed like one that had fragments of glass in his bosom, that cut him, and that cut him the more the tighter he pressed them to his heart.”(7)
Jesus said not to have an “anxious mind.” Warren Wiersbe says, “The word translated [‘worry’] . . . means ‘to be torn apart,’ and the phrase ‘[anxious] mind’ [in] Luke 12:29 means ‘to be held in suspense.’ It is the picture of a ship being tossed in a storm”(8) ready to fall apart. James speaks about being a double-minded man, who is like a wave of the sea being tossed back and forth by the wind (James 1:6, 8). Worry and anxiety will cause us to feel cut and torn apart, divided in two different directions, and lost and drowning at sea, as though the very life is being sucked right out of us.
Allow me to share again from Luke 12:31-32: “But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” In Luke, Jesus said, “Do not fear, little flock.” You see, worry is tied to fear. In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul said, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” If we will let go of worry and fear and begin to walk by faith, then we will have a sound mind; one that is not torn apart. With peace of mind comes peace of life; and thus, abundant life!
In verse 33 of our passage, Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Seeking the kingdom of God is focusing on the Lord and His work, and looking to Him in all we do. Seeking the kingdom is trusting God with our life. Worry is seeking what we can do on our own, apart from God; and thus, it demonstrates that we really do not trust Him.
Oswald Chambers said, “All worry is caused by calculating without God,” and Billy Graham stated, “Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered on anything short of God and His will for us.”(9) If we cannot learn to trust the Lord with our life, then we will always be in a state of want and confusion; and thereby, living with a deficiency of abundant life. Proverbs 3:5-7 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes.”
If we will acknowledge the Lord, and seek the kingdom first (Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:31), then we can begin to live in the present moment. Today is called the “present” because it is a “gift.” If we can learn to live today without worry, then we can begin to enjoy the gift of abundant life in Christ.
Time of Reflection
If you have a worry, then take it to the Lord; or if you have a specific need, then bring it to the Lord, and focus only on Him. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
If you are seeking peace and abundant life, it can only be found in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Eternal life, and salvation from your sins, can also found in Jesus; for we read in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” I want to invite you to walk the aisle today to receive both “abundant life” and “eternal life” in Jesus.
If you are a believer who is living in worry, you can have abundant life by repenting of your mistrust, and by following the Lord wholeheartedly in faith this very day. And if you are lost, not knowing Jesus Christ, you can receive eternal life by repenting of your sins and by confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
NOTES
(1) Grant Martin, Transformed by Thorns (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), p. 95.
(2) Park Tucker, Gospel Herald.
(3) WarrenWiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1992), taken from Logos 2.1 on CD-ROM.
(4) Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1, New Testament (Wheaton, Il: Victor Books, 1989), p. 222.
(5) M. G. Easton, “Cubit,” Easton’s Bible Dictionary, on Logos 2.1E CD-ROM (Oak Harbor, WA: 1996).
(6) Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, p. 222.
(7) Stories for Preachers and Teachers, on CD-ROM.
(8) Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, p. 221.
(9) “How to Win Over Worry,” John Maxwell, December 1991.
