"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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? Matthew 6:25
The next section of the Sermon on the Mount is about anxiety and worrying. The topic of anxiety follows Jesus’ words about money and possessions, since these are an oversized and common reason for worry in most people. Who has not worried about money?
The big idea Jesus is presenting in this section is simple: Do not worry! That is easier said than done. So Jesus gives reasons not to worry.
The first reason in (v.25) is that life is more than money and possessions. As eternal spiritual beings, as important as money is, (a) it is not the most important thing, and (b) the time will come when money is no more—erasing all worry about it.
Verse 25 introduces the further reasons illustrated in verses 26-30:
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
We need not worry because God cares and provides for us. He doesn’t always grant us the abundance we might desire, but He always cares and provides according to His perfect will. Jesus illustrates God’s care by pointing out that since He cares for birds, flowers, and grass, we can rest from worrying about His care and provision for us. And by the way, Jesus’ words make it clear that God’s care for people is greater than for plants and animals, which is a reminder that only people (not plants or animals) are created in God’s image!
The end of (v.30) challenges us that worry is a lack of faith. Oh, that we would trust God, remembering that since He saved our souls (at the infinite expense of Jesus’ life) we can trust Him with everything else (Romans 8:31-32)!