Context No. 4271 of 4322 · Matthew

Matthew 6:24-34: in context

24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon. 25Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they? 27“Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? 28Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin, 29yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith? 31“Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.

Jesus addresses the anxiety that gnaws at us over the basics of life, what we will eat, drink, and wear. He points to the birds, fed by the heavenly Father though they neither sow nor reap, and to the lilies, clothed by God in beauty beyond Solomon's, though they neither toil nor spin. If God so cares for birds and flowers, he asks, will he not much more care for you, O you of little faith?

And then he gives the antidote to anxiety: seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. The cure for anxious striving over our needs is not to obsess over them, as the anxious world does, but to put God's kingdom first and trust our Father, who knows we need these things, to provide them. We cannot serve both God and money, and worry over provision is a sign that our trust has drifted.

We are not meant to live consumed by anxiety over our needs, striving and fretting as though everything depended on us and God could not be trusted. Our Father knows what we need and cares for us more than for the birds he feeds and the lilies he clothes. The path to peace is to seek his kingdom first and trust his provision, refusing to let anxiety over tomorrow rob today.

Am I consumed with anxiety over my needs, striving and fretting as though everything depended on me, or do I seek first God's kingdom and trust my Father, who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies, to provide what he knows I need?

Sources

Matthew 6:33: "But seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well."
Matthew 6:26: "See the birds of the sky... your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you of much more value than they?"
Matthew 6:34: "Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself."