Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:25, 27, 33 (NIV)
Read: Matthew 6:19-34
Consider: Many people are consumed by worry. They use so much of their time and energy worrying about issues over which they have no control, or where the likelihood of an unfavourable outcome is negligible. Matthew’s gospel, quoting Jesus, tells us that we cannot add even a single hour to our lives by worrying (Matthew 6:27).
In Peter’s first letter he says this: Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). It is so easy to say to someone “Don’t worry, it’ll be all right”. Yet it is often hard to keep oneself from worrying about health, family, home, work, plus the many other issues that can fill our minds with anxious thoughts.
What does Peter mean when he says ‘casting all your care upon him’? In this verse the word ‘casting’ is likely to mean ‘casting off or out’. This involves being willing to give over our cares and worries to God, who is both willing and able to deal with them. An alternative meaning for ‘casting’ refers to being ‘poured into a mould’. Although this is not the exact meaning in this verse, it does conjure up an interesting picture of being poured into God and the conscious act of being willing to be poured. Once poured into God it would mean taking on the shape of the mould; in this case the shape of the mould being God.
In the passage from Matthew, what reason does Jesus give that reveals that worrying is pointless? Read Matthew 6:31-32 again: So do not worry, saying “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” Or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Can you see that if God already knows all our needs and can provide for them, our worrying cannot change or intensify his care for us.
Pray: Father, help us to put our trust in you, knowing that you already know our needs and can provide for them. Amen
Every blessing
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