Do Not Worry (Matthew 6:25-34)

Worry, I am sure is a big part of many many people's lives. I see people worrying about several things. From what they wear, to how they eat, to how they talk, about others, and friends and family, many things. You can basically worry about EVERY. SINGLE. THING. in the world. Matthew, a disciple of Jesus talks about it in this passage from Matthew 6.

25"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? 26Look 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? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

matthew6:25-34

I personally, like a format I have used recently. Although it may SEEM more lengthy, you can understand the passage much better, word by word, or phrase by phrase.

verse25
25"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?

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life," ~ Matthew starts off the passage with a clear, powerful statement, telling us NOT to worry about life.

"what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." ~ He becomes more specific and lists examples. Food, drinks, clothing, basically, he wants to say about EVERYTHING.
"Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" ~ Life is more important than these things. Like in a previous post from a sermon, everything we have and DON'T have are meaningless (James 1:11). -for the post, click here- LIFE, is more important than all these tangible things.

verse26
26Look 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?

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns" ~ the birds our Lord has made does not do not worry much about anything and their Father (creator/God) still feeds them." In 1 Kings 17 1:6, Elijah was didn't worry and trusted the Lord, and the Lord fed him as well.

"Are you not much more valuable than they?" ~ compare yourself to the birds. God has blessed us with shelter and SO MUCH MORE. Doesn't this show how much MORE God loves us? Trust in his unconditional love for us and DO. NOT. WORRY.

⁸ But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.

psalm52:8

verse27
27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" ~ like mentioned before, compare yourselves and understand/believe how blessed we are. We worry even more than the birds. We worry as if we can add hours to God's Life? Stop worrying!

verse28
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin." ~ why should we care or worry about what we wear? Lilies are beautiful without work, and like lilies, God made us naturally beautiful. We do not need to work to be beautiful. We already are.

verse29
29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

"Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." ~ even Solomon, he was rich and wealthy and he did work so hard to dress to impress.

verse30
30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

"If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire," ~ if God clothes grass without work and making it naturally beautiful, without work and the grass is here for a long period of time and even thrown into the fire,.... then....

"will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" ~ he will surely make you beautiful as well, correct?

verse31
31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'" ~ once again, Matthew reminds us and brings up the point that we should not worry or worry through speaking as well.

verse32
32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

"For the pagans run after all these things," ~ pagans (non-christian/jewish/muslim) run and worry about things like clothing and food.

"and your heavenly Father knows that you need them." ~ unlike the pagans, our God knows EVERYTHING and he knows exactly what you need.

verse33
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness," ~ we must remember to seek God and his righteousness first. Our goal is to be Christ-like and live a Christ-reflective life. Learn to be like God. It will not happen overnight, and it will take time, but we will get there eventually if you are willing to.
"and all these things will be given to you as well." ~ if we seek his kingdom and goodness, "all these things", such as food, shelter, etc... will be given to us. Matthew 7:7 states,

⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

verse34
34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." ~ Matthew concludes the passage with this verse, which is actually a gesture. We shouldn't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow, is tomorrow. Allow God to control your future, and your stress about the future will be taken away.
"Each day has enough trouble of its own." ~ there are already many trials and temptations and troubles in every single day we encounter. In the 24 hours you can experience a lot, so there is no need to worry about the future. Even the near-future as well.

Conclusion/Things to Ponder on:

1. Do not worry about LIFE. Food, shelter, clothing etc...
2. God KNOWS what you need and he will provide, so why worry?
3. Seek his kingdom and greatness and he will give you what you need.
4. Do not worry about the future, allow God to take over.

A while ago, I read "Right With God" by Ron Mehl and I learnt a lot from the book. One part of the book REALLY stood out to me and I have remembered it ever since I read it.

"Worry is a warning light on the dashboard, informing us that we've been taken back our lives from his care, a very foolish thing to do." - Right With God by Ron Mehl (16)

SUB it,
Smij Nahc † [Do Not Worry. Give it to God.]
God Bless You ♥