Saturday, May 02, 2009

Do Not Worry, I understand, but…

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus tells us not to worry, he uses the fact God provides for the animals and they do not worry, nor do they have the capacity to worry. The fields of lilies grow, they do not labor, they are taken care of, therefore, we should not worry about how ourselves needing to provide these means, as well, worrying does not add one minute to our life. 

Read from the NIV what Jesus said about worry... 

Mt 6:25 "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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? 

Mt 6:28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 

When I read this, I like it, it makes sense. Why worry, it does not add to our life. In fact, Dale Carnegie wrote a book about it. But worry is a prelude to planning. I worry about my future, so I plan my finances today. I worry about my childrens health, thus I take steps proper to secure it.

 As much as I like what Jesus Christ states in Matthew 6:25 -34, I do worry. And what adds to my worry is now on the Discovery channel, we get to see when the food dries up for the animals, the flowers do wilt, the birds do die from starvation. The worst one I eve saw on Discovery is the dying of the animals living in the water source as it dried up. Alligators, Hippopotamus were slowly being covered with mud, drying out and either dying to heat exhaustion or starvation.

 In my mind, this challenged the statement by Jesus Christ, for the animals of the planet were not being taken care of and they were dying, thus confirming, I should worry, shouldn't I?

Before I write the rest of my commentary on this, I am in hopes, you my friends that my read this, supply me with you thoughts, insights and commentary.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:20 PM

    I believe the command not to worry still stands. How God responds is up to Him alone. He may choose to provide what we ask for or not, or choose to wait - it's His prerogative (the OT Isrealites did not see all of the promises come to fruition in their day). So, we still must stand on faith in Him, rather on the outcomes we currently see.

    Modern day medicine has shown that worry leads to stress, anxiety, and shorter life-spans. It also destroys our ability to enjoy what we ARE, in fact, blessed with. Who by worrying adds a day...?

    Wisdom and knowledge, rather than worry, serve as far better pre-cursors to intelligent and useful planning and action on our part for day to day life. Thorough training, of course, is the pre-cursor to wisdom and knowlege. So worrying, as a tool to wise actions, is wholly unnecessary, and in fact, can be detrimental to our well-being.

    That said, which of us applies those concepts perfectly?!

    Just my two cents. Thanks for being my new friend!

    Blessings,

    -Mary Johnson

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