25 “So I tell you, don’t worry about the food or drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. 26 Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds. 27 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? Look at how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. 30 God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So you can be even more sure that God will clothe you. Don’t have so little faith! 31 Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them. 33 Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well. 34 So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Read Matthew 6:25-34 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
If Jesus has a sense of humor, or if there was ever a time He may have come across as a little insensitive, it may be in a phrase He says in this passage about worry. Worry is something that almost everyone in our culture faces today on some level or another, and Jesus has something to tell His followers about this subject.
Jesus message to open this topic: “Don’t worry.” (First portion of verse 25)
But since Jesus is more helpful than those words themselves, He goes on to describe how we are so much more valuable to God than other things, and that while we spend a lot of time focusing on what we will eat and what we should wear, our lives are so much more important to Him then these minor areas.
It is in Jesus’ discussion about worry that He shares a truth that packs a punch: “You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.” (v. 27)
There are plenty of things you can do to add time to your life. Exercise, eat more healthy foods, chose to build better habits and eliminate bad habits from your daily routines are just a few things we can do to add time to our lives.
The big thing that won’t add any time to your life is worry. Worry and the stress that worry can cause may actually decrease the time you are alive.
In some ways, Jesus’ statement here may sound sarcastic or insensitive to those who read or hear these words, but Jesus isn’t going to avoid the big issue: Worry doesn’t serve any good purpose. It may be one of the things in life that can cause the most harm with no potential upside.
Instead, the best way to add time to our lives is by focusing our lives on God; putting our faith, hope, and trust in Jesus; and seeking His kingdom first. With our focus, faith, and foundation on Jesus, our life on earth becomes the beginning of an eternal life with God.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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