Everyone worries at some points in life. It is said that some people worry that they will have nothing to worry about. And when worrying becomes a routine it’s because a person has no trust in God. Here in these verses, Jesus deals with the problem of worrying by helping us to see life in perspective.
What do human beings worry about? Is it not about the bare essentials of life like food, drink and cloths? These are the things people fuss about. Illustrating with the bird of the air, Jesus shows how fruitless worrying can be. The birds that fly about do not sow, nor reap nor gather grains into barns. They do no such activities, yet are adequately provided for by the Heavenly Father. The question is: by worrying can a person add to the length of his life? Of course not! So the nest obvious question here would be: why then do we engage in this purposeless activity? If we are so overly concerned about these things, we will not be different from the people of the world that do not belong to God.
In verse 28, Jesus points to the flowers of the field to make His point. There is a variety of them, all beautifully arrayed in colorful display. They are so gloriously stupendous that even Solomon, clothed in all his glory, cannot outdo their beauty. Jesus says that the flowers of the field neither toil nor spin to achieve its beauty. Yet no matter how beautiful the flowers might be, they are temporal and will be gathered as fuel for the fire. And like the birds of the air, they too do not have to do a thing to survive. The heavenly Father takes care of both the birds and the flowers.
In this whole passage, Jesus is arguing from the perspective of value. He shows that if God takes care of the birds and flowers that are less valuable than us human, will He not care for His people who are infinitely more important? Therefore to worry is a reflection of the absence of trust in the good Heavenly Father. Only People who do not know God engage in such fruitless activities.
When Jesus tells us not to worry about the bare essentials of life, He did not mean that they are unimportant. His point in all of these is again about priority. He wants us not to be unduly taken up with the concerns of this world. If we put God first, we find everything being thrown in for us. Jesus isn’t suggesting that we should not work or take care of our dressing. But rather that as we engage in all these activities, we are also joyfully and fully aware of the generosity of God. Do not perceive Him to be a God who begrudges us and wants to make life difficult for us.
The key is found in verse 33. The priority for us, His disciples, must be first to seek the reign of God over our lives. We must make the righteous behavior of Kingdom people our goal. When we act and live our lives as defined by the Kingdom, we will find that our needs for food, drink and clothing look after themselves. Most people think that we cannot have a worried-free life. Why not learn from Jesus? Why not make His reign over our lives at the top of all our priorities. As we do that, let’s live one day at a time, and He will take care of all our physical needs.
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