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?
Matthew 6:25 KJV
Context:
This is part of the early messages of Christ called the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus sat with his disciples up the mountain, with the crowd listening to him. He was speaking to his disciples, people who had made the conscious decision to follow him. As it was then, so is it now: there is a call of God upon every human life. It is a call that asks me to walk away from the crowd and come up the mountain. It is not a call to careless thought and action, but one of careful consideration and action.
The crowd is fickle and its commitment ebbs and flows like the waves of the sea. It is the crowd that shouts "Hossana" one week and "Crucify him" the next. The crowd is concerned only with the immediate; disciples are concerned about eternal impact. Which one am I: a disciple or part of the crowd? Am I content being at the foot of the mountain, clapping about all that I hear, or am I making that walk up the mountain so I can obtain direction and instructions for the impact my life has been formed to make, and being careful to obey? A careful check of my daily pursuits and priorities will show where I stand.
Message and Response:
Jesus speaks to his disciples, asking them not to worry about their lives. In a world of demand, it is quite hard to understand what Jesus means here. There are legitimate demands on my time and resources: rent, clothing, food and shelter. As human beings, we do need these things, but here is the catch: can worrying about it make any difference? Can I guarantee provision for my legitimate needs if I worry a lot about it? If I can't, then why do it?
Take no thought does not mean do not plan. Take no thought does not mean do not save. Take no thought does not mean do not take responsibility for the legitimate needs of your family. The key thing is what I do and how I do it as I plan. Do I plan with the heart of total submission to God's will, knowing that he is the only one who can really take care of my needs? Do I leave room for him to disrupt my plans if he has to, since he would have better plans for me than I can ever imagine?
It is the worry part I must avoid, because it kills faith in God's ability to come through for me. Worry is telling God that I am sure he can take care of me, so I have to scheme for myself. Worry and faith cannot exist in the same heart at the same time because both of them come from different sources. It is human to worry, but as soon as it comes, give it all to the God who has asked not to worry. He knows how to deal with it and set my heart at rest.
And really, life is more than food, clothing and shelter. At the end of the day, there is none of these things that will go with you into eternity. We only make use of these things down here to sustain the human life, but they are of no eternal value if one does not know God. A man's life does not consist of the abundance of the things that he possesses. The world defines a man's networth by the things it can measure. God defines a man's worth by both his present potential and his eternal value. That is why Jesus died for my sins, even before I was born, because he knew the value of my life. He does not give like the world gives: giving wealth and sometimes taking away peace, but he gives me all that I need for life and Godliness.
My life is of greater importance to God than the questions of food, drink and dressing. My body has become the temple of the Holy Spirit, and my first priority is to do what pleases God. I may not always have all that I think I need, but I am assured that God is able to take care of me and lead me into eternal life. His promise is that he will provide, and his Word has never been known to fail. I must focus on the eternal, not the earthly. God will play his part; I must play my part. His time of favour is here.
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