V25. Don’t worry about your life.

One of the big evaluations of faith in one’s life is that they do not worry. Praying, fasting, going to church does not guarantee faith, even though many may think it does.

If your constant worry is that you won’t have enough food or money, you are not living by faith. You are not trusting God.

God’s Word tells us to be like children (Mat 18) because kids don’t worry about this stuff; they trust mommy and daddy.

V25. Is life not more important than food? We become so consumed with this life, that food and clothing become a primary focus. Food and clothing and shelter are a representation of the human need. That’s our basic need. But that also becomes our primary selfishness. Of course this extends to pleasures which include vacation, toys, electronics. We work so hard and are consumed with the things that we think we need. So for example, we work hard all year because we want to put money aside for a vacation. It’s all about our need, or what we think is a need.

The Bible seems a bit blunt in this passage. It’s basically saying that if our life is about food or other material things, then it’s not about God. I can tell God in my daily devoitional time that I believe in him, but if my actions show something completely different, all my lip devotion is worthless.

Jesus then goes into a bit more detail regarding the basic human needs. Food and clothing or shelter. He shows us what God’s provision looks like in these areas. He seems to emphasize that God provides, without you fretting too much.

V26. The attitude of the birds. It gives us a picture of faith. They don’t plan hard or worry till they get sick. We should trust like them.

-A comparison there. Birds get fed. We are more important than birds. Conclusion. Will we not get fed?

And he adds an important note.

V27. How, by worrying , will you add an hour to your life? Food is a worry. Food is directly connected to our existence. If you don’t eat you die. Jesus makes a very powerful statement here.“Even if you eat, you will still die.” By worrying about food, you will not add another day to your life because either way you will die. Ex. If you were to die in a week and you knew it. Would you worry about the stuff you worry about now?Finishing that project? Starting that business?

V28. And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies grow. Some things have been established by God a certain way. God established the laws of this universe and of nature. He established when the sun rises and sets. He has placed boundaries to the oceans. He decided how flowers will be clothed. And the interesting part in all this; nature did not labor in order to benefit from all this. But we as humans feel the need to work hard in order to put God’s principles into motion. Principles that he has already established.

V29. Not even Solomon was dressed like them. Solomon worked hard. But all his hard work did not compare to God’s established blessing upon nature.

V30. More than the laws of nature, God has established laws for his children. He will take care of us because we are more valuable than nature. Do you believe that?

V30. You of little faith. Do you believe that there are certain spiritual laws in place for those who fear the lord? Problem. We see the laws of nature. We don’t see the spiritual laws. It takes faith to believe the spiritual laws. These spiritual laws need to be visible in our lives.

V30. O you of little faith. Faith is visible by whether you trust God’s spiritual laws in a physical world.

Hebrews 11:1. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and unseen.

-Faith is all about trust in something spiritual even though you live in the material. Many seem to worry about where their kids will go to school when it’s more important that  their kids bee Godly. Young people worry about getting married, when they should be worried about being in love with Jesus. People worry about money, when they should worry about how God can benefit from their money.

So faith, is in a sense, the ability to trust God as he uses your material body and resources, with a spiritual purpose, often for the benefit of others, rather than yourself.

V31. SO don’t worry saying: What will we eat and drink and wear.

It’s not that you don’t have to work and take care of your needs. It’s that you should not “worry” about how to take care of your needs. Your focus should not be consumed by the material.

There is a difference between planning and worrying. You plan to pay your mortgage next month. If you can’t do it, don’t worry.

What if you can no longer pay your mortgage? Then you will probably get kicked out of your house right? But you continue to trust God and move into an apartment or with family. The fact that you trust God does not guarantee that he will provide so that you can have a big house.You can have your needs met in an apartment just as well, or even living with family and friends.

V32. For the pagans run after all these things.

How do you evaluate whether you trust God and not your stuff?By the way you compare to a person that does not know Christ. Do you run after the same things an unbeliever pursues?

If your attitude toward material stuff is the same as the world’s than you are not trusting in God.

V33. But seek first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.

-If you trust God, you will seek God first, before anything else. And this will happen regardless of your circumstances.

The attitude of a person that has faith is “God is a priority for me” no matter what is going on in my life. Our relationship with God should not be dictated by our circumstances. We serve God when things are good and when things are not so good.

Ex. Job said at one point. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, bless the name of the Lord.

-We need to make God our focus even when our life is not the way we expected it to be. As we focus on God, He will make sure to take care of our needs. It’s in our human nature to say:”But if I don’t take care of this no one else will. ” And with that attitude we can start focusing on solving our problems in our own strength, and kind of begin pushing God aside.

If God does not give us everything we wanted materilally speaking, it should not shake us, and we should not begin pushing God aside because it’s the kingdom of heaven that really matters anyways.