Humans have a propensity towards worry. I have a propensity towards worry! This is why, I believe, Christ explicitly taught his people not to worry. If it was an easy task for us to put down the mental baggage of things that hold no eternal value, then it would have been an unnecessary lesson when Jesus addressed it in the famous Sermon on the Mount. But, in His infinite wisdom, He knows us. He knows our frailties and our earthly worries. He is aware of how things press on us and weigh us down.
What, then, is the antidote?
Matthew 6:33
Let's back up and briefly survey the context.
Jesus was speaking to a substantial number of people from a Mount. This portion of scripture comes directly after Jesus addresses the matter of eternal treasures. After demonstrating the fleeting and corrupt nature of things on this earth (Matt 6:19), He goes on to address our human worries about earthly things.
Jesus poses two key object lessons - perhaps drawn from the nature which surrounded them.
1) Behold the fowls of the air - they are fed by the heavenly Father, yet they do not sow and reap as we do. God cares intimately for their daily need for nourishment.
2) Consider the lilies - they grow and are arrayed in beauty as garments. God 'clothes' the fields in beauty yet they do not spin or toil to gain this.
The concerns for food and clothing are the most basic of human needs, yet Christ tells us to not be anxious about them. Why? Because our "heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."
Does this mean that we sit around and wait for God to provide? Well, in reflecting on other scriptures (e.g. 2 Thessalonians 3:10), I'd suggest that no we aren't to just sit around and wait for provision to drop in our laps, but this sermon speaks to the matter of our priorities. When our minds are consumed by earthly worries and needs, we miss the bigger picture. We miss the opportunities to seek His Kingdom. We miss the call to spread the message of His kingdom because we are too absorbed with the here and now.
So, what do we replace our worry with? A focus on Christ's kingdom. An occupation with a heavenly agenda.
Seek first the kingdom of God.
