don't worry?

today we look at the last part of Matthew 6

²⁵ "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.     ³⁴ "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

First, you will notice that this scripture begins with therefore so we need to ask "what is the therefore there for?" I think the therefore points back to our previous about treasure because not only do we hoard treasures to brag about them but we also store up because we worry about tomorrow.

Second i would say be weary of the KJV here because it take no thought, which worked in king Jame's time but today we can take that sentence to an extreme of oh! i can't think about my life here on earth

Also, I would warn against using this passage as a excuse for laziness especially the illustration about birds and lilies because birds to work they gather food and train to go south.  plants work to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into food through photosynthesis but what they don't do is excessively store up food and clothing.  the rich fool in the parable was not condemned for building up barns to store the food he was condemned for trusting in his food a himself the way he should have trusted God.

now i think the best illustration of this text is a story in Luke 10

 ³⁸Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. ³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴²but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

Note Martha in this text doing something good and right but her mind is divided in those things.

i think take no thought is the opposite what Jesus is saying here because when we trust god with these things we can think of other things

treasure hunt

Today we look at Matthew 6:19-24

      ¹⁹ "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
    ²² "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, ²³ but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
    ²⁴ "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money

Now I feel I must point Jesus never condemned riches what he is warning about here is storing up riches just for the sake of having them because you will lose them at the end of your life but it is not wrong to store up food, or emergency provisions or even belongings after all before Jesus began his ministry he was a carpenter who built belongs.  It also says in proverbs 6

⁶ Go to the ant, O sluggard;
   consider her ways, and be wise.
⁷ Without having any chief,
    officer, or ruler,
⁸she prepares her bread in summer
   and gathers her food in harvest.

so storing up food for a rainy day is not only good but also wise.

I think what Jesus is warning us is best expressed in verse 24 especially in the NIV that word money begins with a capital letter because in that culture money was an idol called Mammon.  The question here do you own your money or does your money own you?