Jesus knew exactly what He was talking about in Matthew 6:25, when He said: “take no thought for your life”. What was He really implying here? In the context of what He was talking about at the time, Jesus was referring to the cares of this world. He was referring to the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of the eyes. If you’ve been a true Christian for five minutes, you will no doubt have experienced that choking feeling when the pressures of this world rush into our hearts and minds to strangle the life of any seeds God may have sown in us.
That encroachment seems unrelenting doesn’t it? If we’re not worried about clothes to wear, we fuss about how to get food on the table. If we’re not concerned about our money or the lack of it, we panic at the thought of having no friends or ending up all alone. The encroachment just never seems to come to an end and sometimes it can feel like an overwhelming battle to stay afloat. It takes a life surrendered to the Spirit of God to overcome this bombardment of pressures. We must allow Him raise a standard against this flood of circumstances that will inevitably come our way.
Jesus knew that His children would struggle with these life worries. He gave us a heads up by reminding us not to take any thought of our lives. He was essentially implying that the most important thing a Christian should be careful of is their relationship with God. This may seem very counter-cultural in an age where people are very focused on self and taking care of number one as some like to call it. Whilst it would make perfect sense to worry about food, clothes, work, friends and so on, Jesus instructs us not to do so.
Was He being insensitive? Definitely not. Jesus understands our struggles probably better than we ever will. He knows our concerns and yet, He asks us to make sure that those concerns never compete with our relationship with God. That must always take preeminence in our lives.
Jesus says that today has enough troubles of its own so why add tomorrow’s issues to an already challenging list (Matthew 6:34)? He also reminds us that worrying cannot help us achieve anything. We must learn to lay our troubles down at His feet and fix our eyes on Him, remembering always that He is a good God Who is able to do much more than we can ever hope for.
The apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”. – Philippians 4:6.
Related articles
- Worry: Destructive and Disobedient (restoredbylove.wordpress.com)
- Why We Shouldn’t Worry (epages.wordpress.com)
Yes! Jesus, you are the One Thing that is needed. Help us to seek after you, to long for you. Help us to have faith, knowing you are and will provide for all our needs. Help us to put you first! Be our Treasure. Be our Focus. Let our desire be for you. Protect us against every attempt to lead us astray. Let us not buy into the lie that we have to take care of things ourselves. YOU take perfect care of us. THANK YOU, LORD!! Keep our eyes on you, Jesus, and our hearts full of you! In your precious name – Amen.
I say a big amen to your prayer wp! May He continue to be our Treasure
I think the reason why we should “take no thought for our lives” or “be anxious for nothing” is that God is the Giver of life, the sustainer of life, and the Giver of good gifts (“everything good comes from Him”), so there’s no need to worry about something that we cannot bring into existence by ourselves. Once we learn how to make our requests by true faith in the One who gives, that’s where the request ends. We cannot fulfill the request by ourselves so why worry about it? At the right time, and in His perfect will, His word will be established—not in our own time or in our own will. I praise God because His plans for me are perfect, no matter how much my human mind wants to orchestrate my life, His plans for me (and His timing) will always be better than I could have ever dreamed. Great post!
Hi Jaycee! I couldn’t agree with you more. He is indeed the Source of every good thing and you’re right in saying that since we cannot bring any of these things to being by our own efforts, we might as well depend on Him wholeheartedly to do so.