Sermon Central
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Do Not Be Anxious.
Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Mar 13, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: When He is in charge of our lives we need not worry about tomorrow today.
DO NOT BE ANXIOUS.
LUKE 12:22. “Take no thought” is an unfortunate translation (Matthew 6:25).
When Jesus says (literally) “be not careful,” He obviously is not sanctioning thoughtlessness, nor even carelessness. He rather means, “Do not be anxious.”
What shall we eat? What shall we put on? These are the cares that we need not be anxious about.
LUKE 12:23. After all, “the life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.”
It is a question of priorities. What use is it anyway if we ‘gain the whole world, but then lose our soul’ (cf. Matthew 16:26)?
LUKE 12:24. If we study the birds, we might learn something of the providence of God: we might learn to trust Him. For they do not sow or reap or store in granaries, but God provides for them: and are we not better than they?
LUKE 12:25. Which of us by fretting and worrying can add one inch to our stature, or one moment to our lifespan?
LUKE 12:26. “If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?”
In other words, if we cannot add one inch to our stature, or one moment to our lifespan, then no amount of anxious care will enable us to control things that are evidently outside our control. It is God who added the inches to our height on the road to maturity, and it is God who sustains us in life day by day.
LUKE 12:27. And what about the flowers of the field? They labour not nor spin, and yet they are adorned better than Solomon in all his glory.
LUKE 12:28. Even such things, which would later be gathered with the grass as kindling for the fire, are under God’s care: so why should we doubt Him?
LUKE 12:29. Jesus reiterates, “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of a doubtful mind.”
LUKE 12:30. People who do not know God may prioritise these things: but we have a heavenly Father who knows that we need them - even before we ask.
LUKE 12:31. As for us, we must hold the things of this earth with a loose hand and prioritise our lives in such a way as to give precedence to the kingdom of God and the establishment of His righteousness.
We set our eyes, set our hearts, towards the advancement of the kingdom of God. We do not trust ourselves to accomplish it, but we know the One whose righteousness is imputed to us and follow His lead.
Rest assured, when He is in charge of our lives we need not worry about tomorrow today!
