Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry 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 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Matthew 6:28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
Matthew 6:29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6:30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Matthew 6:31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
Matthew 6:32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
He who has given you life knows your need of food to sustain it. He who created the body is not unmindful of your need of raiment. Will not He who has bestowed the greater gift bestow also what is needed to make it complete?
Jesus pointed His hearers to the birds as they warbled their carols of praise, unencumbered with thoughts of care, for “they sow not, neither do they reap;” and yet the great Father provides for their needs. And He asks, “Are not ye of much more value than they?” R.V.
“No sparrow falls without His care, No soul bows low but Jesus knows; For He is with us everywhere, And marks each bitter tear that flows. And He will never, never, never Forsake the soul that trusts Him ever.”
The hillsides and the fields were bright with flowers, and, pointing to them in the dewy freshness of the morning, Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.” The graceful forms and delicate hues of the plants and flowers may be copied by human skill, but what touch can impart life to even one flower or blade of grass?
Every wayside blossom owes its being to the same power that set the starry worlds on high. Through all created things thrills one pulse of life from the great heart of God. The flowers of the field are clothed by His hand in richer robes than have ever graced the forms of earthly kings.
And “if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
It is He who made the flowers and who gave to the sparrow its song who says, “Consider the lilies,” “Behold the birds.” R.V. In the loveliness of the things of nature you may learn more of the wisdom of God than the schoolmen know.
On the lily’s petals, God has written a message for you, written in language that your heart can read only as it unlearns the lessons of distrust and selfishness and corroding care.
Why has He given you the singing birds and the gentle blossoms, but from the overflowing love of a Father’s heart, that would brighten and gladden your path of life?
All that was needed for existence would have been yours without the flowers and birds, but God was not content to provide what would suffice for mere existence. He has filled earth and air and sky with glimpses of beauty to tell you of His loving thought for you.
The beauty of all created things is but a gleam from the shining of His glory. If He has lavished such infinite skill upon the things of nature, for your happiness and joy, can you doubt that He will give you every needed blessing?
“Consider the lilies.” Every flower that opens its petals to the sunshine obeys the same great laws that guide the stars, and how simple and beautiful and how sweet its life! Through the flowers, God would call our attention to the loveliness of Christlike character.
He who has given such beauty to the blossoms desires far more that the soul should be clothed with the beauty of the character of Christ.
Consider, says Jesus, how the lilies grow; how, springing from the cold, dark earth, or from the mud of the riverbed, the plants unfold in loveliness and fragrance. Who would dream of the possibilities of beauty in the rough brown bulb of the lily?
But when the life of God, hidden therein, unfolds at His call in the rain and the sunshine, men marvel at the vision of grace and loveliness. Even so will the life of God unfold in every human soul that will yield itself to the ministry of His grace, which, free as the rain and the sunshine, comes with its benediction to all.
It is the word of God that creates the flowers, and the same word will produce in you the graces of His Spirit.
God’s law is the law of love. He has surrounded you with beauty to teach you that you are not placed on earth merely to delve for self, to dig and build, to toil and spin, but to make life bright and joyous and beautiful with the love of Christ—like the flowers, to gladden other lives by the ministry of love.
Fathers and mothers, let your children learn from the flowers. Take them with you into garden and field and under the leafy trees, and teach them to read in nature the message of God’s love. Let the thoughts of Him be linked with bird and flower and tree.
Lead the children to see in every pleasant and beautiful thing an expression of God’s love for them. Recommend your religion to them by its pleasantness. Let the law of kindness be in your lips.
Teach the children that because of God’s great love their natures may be changed and brought into harmony with His. Teach them that He would have their lives beautiful with the graces of the flowers.
Teach them, as they gather the sweet blossoms, that He who made the flowers is more beautiful than they. Thus, the tendrils of their hearts will be entwined about Him. He who is “altogether lovely” will become to them as a daily companion and familiar friend, and their lives will be transformed into the image of His purity.
Mat 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry 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?
Jesus is not here recommending asceticism, nor does He place a premium on poverty. He does not affirm that a poor man or a careless man is more acceptable to God than a man of diligence and means.
Jesus Himself counselled prudence in the management of personal and business affairs (see Luke 14:28–32). What He does condemn is the habit of worrying about the material things of life, especially about those that are over and above the necessities of life.
He condemns the desire that leads to extravagance in any direction. The Christian will have a discriminating sense of the relative value of things, and his concern will be in proportion to that value.
He will realize that wealth is not an end, but a means to more important ends, and his supreme objective in life will not be to amass wealth.
The important thing, Jesus says, that which should receive the greater attention, is the life itself. Food, important as it is, is not an end, but rather a means to the end of supporting life. The man whose primary objective is to secure food and clothing has missed the most important thing in life. We should eat to live, not live to eat (cf. on Mark 2:27).
Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
By three examples from nature Jesus illustrates the truth that God, the Author of life, provides those things that are necessary to maintain life, and that man, therefore, need not be unduly anxious about securing them. These three illustrations are the wild birds (v. 26), human growth (v. 27), and wildflowers (v. 28).
The fowls. Wild birds owe nothing to human care. It is God who gives them existence and who provides for them. At the same time, He requires that they exercise the ability with which He has endowed them, of foraging for their food.
Perhaps few men work as hard and as incessantly for a living as does the sparrow, particularly when it has a nest full of young to provide for. Similarly, God expects man to accept the responsibility of working for the necessities of life. But, says Jesus, it was not God’s purpose that man should consider such work the aim and end of life.
The food is there, but the birds must go and get it.
Feeds them. The One who provides for these creatures of the wild is the One who can be counted on to provide us with the necessities of life. God has promised these to us if we are willing to work for them.
If God provides so bountifully for the lesser creatures of His hand, will He not have even greater concern for the happiness and well-being of man?
Matthew 6:28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
Christ here points to the third illustration of the care of the Father for the creatures of His hand.
Matthew 6:29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
The splendor of Solomon’s court was proverbial. (1 Kings 10:1–13, 21; see Mishnah Baba Meẓia 7. 1, Soncino ed. of the Talmud, p. 476).
Matthew 6:30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Christ now summarizes the principle implicit in the illustrations of vs. 26–28.
He who has given life will certainly bestow the lesser gifts of food and clothing. He will not stand idly by in capricious unconcern for the preservation of the life He has given. It is only reasonable to think that He is concerned.
Matthew 6:31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
Life is more important than food, but the kingdom of God is more important than either. Man should concern himself only with that which is most essential.
Matthew 6:32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
The pursuit of material things is not appropriate for citizens of the heavenly kingdom. It is not fitting that a son of God should turn from things of eternal value to seek for things no better than “the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven” (v. 30). See on Isa. 55:1, 2; John 6:27.
This is the second reason for not devoting one’s life to the pursuit of material possessions—God knows what we need, and He will provide for us.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.