Do Not Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

New International Version (NIV)

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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If 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—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

a.Matthew 6:27 Or single cubit to your height

This morning as I was preparing to come to college, the Lord lead me to meditate upon Matthew 6:25-34. Now, as limited as my knowledge is when it comes to scriptures, I did not know what the verses were straight away but when I referred to the Bible, verses 31 and 32 caught my attention. Let us review the above stanzas shall we?

The apparent meaning of this entire paragraph seems to be Jesus basically trying to calm his disciples down regarding various apprehensions and doubts. But as we read further we find that He does not want us just to be complacent with just a comfortable life. He wants us to take up a greater task. I believe that we as humans were not created only to live a comfortable life but to fulfill greater purpose. He would not take the time out to create a creature in His image and likeness and give him authority over every other creation (Genesis 1:26-27) when He had already made everything else. We are called to proclaim the Kingdom of God.

Now, if we carefully try and analyse what Jesus is trying to say here, we find that He is not only giving us an assurance of comfort but also guiding us with our priorities in life. The world today has become so competitive and materialistic that we often do not set our priorities right. We try to chase worldly pleasures like wealth, beauty, etc. like a little child running after a feather that’s left loose in the wind. That is when Matthew 6:25-34 has to be implemented in our lives. Notice here that although Jesus talks about the importance of life over food and body over clothes, what He is actually referring to is the spiritual life as compared to worldly life and the inner body (spirit) as compared to the visible carcass. We need to stop worrying about how we will present ourselves in front of fellow men and really pay attention to the image we have before the Judge of Judges when he returns in all his glory to Judge the living and the dead. We are so occupied by our careers, our relationships and other social and family commitments that we tend to neglect our purpose in life. The day we realize this and make God our top priority, all the other things like education, marriage, clothes, money and all our other “wants” will fall in place. My own life is a living example of this. I always chased after the best of clothes, the best of cellphones and all of these material goods and in the bargain, lost sight of God. But I had to learn the hard way that I was here for a reason. Last Christmas I decided to change my ways and submitted entirely to the Lord and believe you me, the miracles He has performed, the love that He has poured out and the direction He has given my life is a million times better than what I could ever imagine.

In verses 31-32 we find the reassuring promise that we should claim for ourselves as we live everyday. We need not worry about which colleges we should select or whether we will be successful in the field or when God will send “the one” for us. We have an ever living father in heaven (who by the way, has account of each hair on your head and has you inscribed on his palm) to take care of all of that. Now be careful here ! Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that we can throw our feet up in the air and sit back and say, “God, I trust you to take care of everything and from now on you take over my life, now I am not going to do any work.” Oh please no !! God is not a puppeteer who controls us like puppets, on the contrary, he is a tender and generous father who respects our free will. So what we need to do is work for all these things but with the Lord as our top priority. When we learn to do that we shall see Him convert a huge ruckus into this beautiful masterpiece which will function as a map leading to the eternal treasure that lasts forever.

Lastly, I wouldn’t want to miss out on a small phrase/sentence(verse 27) where Jesus refers to our spiritual growth and longevity. Only when we trust our lives with the Lord we shall see ourselves being raised to heights never imagined. I would like to leave you with this marvellous promise: (1 Corinthians 2:9) However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him.

God bless you.



Pio Colaco