Matthew 6:25 – 34

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?

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?

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.

The “therefore” at the beginning of this passage tells us this thought is tied to the previous thought which told us to serve God, to trust God, not to place our priorities, our worship, out faith, our service to our riches, our belongings, our abilities, or anyone or thing in our lives.

This verse tells us that because we have determined to place our trust in God, then we should not have great worry over our lives. We are not to be much concerned about our needs but to look to the Lord for help. We look at Philippians 4:6 and the connection to these verses show that Jesus does not mean for us to ignore our needs, but we should not be overanxious about them.

We are already blessed with life here on earth as the children of God. We have the major blessings so why would we have doubts over God's ability and willingness to provide the minor blessings of food and clothing?

The willingness and power of God to provide for the helpless birds show that God will take care of man which is more valuable to him than the wildlife. But it does not mean that man can be indolent or lazy in working for his living.

Paul tells us that if a man will not work then he will not eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10) But we do not need to worry about our needs, God can take care of us the same as he does the animals. The willingness and power of God to provide for the helpless birds show that God will take care of man which is more valuable to him than the wildlife. But it does not mean that man can be indolent or lazy in working for his living.

Worry is not productive, we cannot accomplish anything by worry. Many times the stress caused by worry will put us in an early grave.

Verse 28 gives us the same message about clothing as 26 did about our food. God shows his ability to take care of the needs of plants and animals. Why should we worry about his ability to take care of us?

God's ability and power to take care of the flowers of this world is greater than the power, abilities, and riches used by wealthy king Solomon.

If God is willing to make the flowers of this earth thrive and look so beautiful when they are only here for a season, why would He fail or ignore the needs of His children who are eternal beings?

Verse 31 sums up the message of Christ, those who believe and serve God do not have to worry about the small things of life.

The people of the world, the unbelievers of the world seek after the needs to take care of themselves. But as believers of God, we know He has us under his protection. He knows what we need.

When we are concerned first with seeking first the kingdom of God and living righteously in it then our choices in earning a living will not interfere with our service to God. In that way what we need will be given to us as blessings from God.

Again in verse 34 we are cautioned against being overanxious about what tomorrow may bring. Tomorrow meaning the future in general. Each day has its own troubles and looking ahead for trouble just adds to today's troubles. “Don't borrow trouble” is a common saying, so it goes don't borrow it from the future. Or “don't cross a bridge before we get to it.”

Each day has enough trouble without worrying about trouble which may never arrive. When tomorrow arrives if trouble comes with it, then we deal with it as Jesus has taught us.