Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment
In Matthew 6 we find Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount, and verses 25-34 are about thought. They are bookends of what He is teaching in that portion of the Sermon on the Mount. In verse 25 Jesus says, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.” Then in verse 34 it says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow.”
In both cases He is not saying that we should not think or be thoughtful. He is saying not to be full of anxious care or thoughts that trouble or worry you. It is similar to what the Bible is talking about in I Peter where it says, “Casting all your care upon him for He careth for you.” God is not suggesting that we not think, and He is not suggesting that we not care about things. He is suggesting that we not be overrun with anxious care which we would call anxiety or worry. The bottom line is not to worry and be run by anxious thoughts.
There is a reason for this: the more God owns, the less you worry. When you worry about things, it is because you are trying to take ownership of them. This is my life, my money, my day, my family, and if I own those things, then I am obliged to worry about them. So, if God owns everything, if it is God’s money, then I can ask God for the money I need. If it is God’s family, I can ask His grace for the family. The more God owns the less I worry and that is what these verses are essentially about.
One of the ways you can break this passage up is to look at the questions Jesus asks in these verses. For instance, in verse 25 He asks the question, “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” The answer is yes. There is more to life than food and clothing. In fact, there is more to life than life. The more of my life that God owns the less I have to worry. Now I have to think about my life and care about it, but I need to make sure that God owns it. The more God owns it and I acknowledge that, the less I am going to be worrying about it. There is more to life than food and clothing.
Now there is more to life than the food and clothing that we worry about, but so many of our worries are just downriver from these basic worries of food and clothing. For instance, someone says “I’m worried about my college exam.” Why? “Because I want to graduate.” Why? Because I don’t want to live in my parent’s basement for the rest of my life.” Why? “Because I want to make money?” Why? “Because I don’t want to starve.” Now, I may be dumbing this down a little bit, but the bottom line is that Jesus reminds us that there is more to life than food and clothing and more to life than life. The more God owns the less you worry.
In verse 26 He says, “Behold, the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” God takes care of birds. They don’t farm, save, or have all these habits to be financially secure. We should be good stewards of the money that God gives us, but aren’t you better than a bird? Yes! Have you ever found yourself envying a bird because he is not weighted down? He is light enough to fly and he sings all day. He may only have a two-year lifespan but he is not worried. Why? It is because God takes care of him. If God will take care of a bird on the tree, won’t God take care of you? “You are better,” Jesus says.
Look at the question in verse 27, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” Who can add an inch to his height or a day to his life by worrying about it? The answer is that there are things you can’t change, and worry changes nothing. So, if you can’t change the most basic of things, why worry about other things? “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” I can’t do that. So, the more God owns the less I worry. The more I give it to God the less I am worried about it.
The last questions we find in verses 30 and 34, “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” If God takes care of the birds and even the grass, won’t He take care of you tomorrow? And won’t He care for your future?
Verse 34 goes on, “Take therefore no thought [worry] for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” In other words, I don’t know the future, but God does. He knows the future and He is sufficient. God is sufficient daily.
The Bible says that the trouble is sufficient for the day, and later we find in God’s Word that God’s grace is sufficient for the day. Anything is better than thinking you don’t need God because you have health, wealth, and friends. Even when you have difficult times, it is worthy to remember that God will take care of you when you give what is in your hands to Him. The more God owns the less you worry. If that is true, how much in your life does God actually own?