Jesus commands us, “Don’t Worry”

Jesus commands us, “Don’t Worry” Matthew 6:25-34

Introduction • When he read letter #22. . .he knew all was ok. • Three passages: • Psalm 37:1-8 do not fret • Matt. 6:33-34 do not worry • Phil. 4:6 don’t be anxious

Scripture 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worryabout 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, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worryabout tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Next Steps According to Jesus in this passage, there are at least four (4) actions necessary to eliminate worry.

1. You must decide not to worry • Jesus repeated three (3) times to not worry. • The presence of these commands • Makes it clear that this is a matter of choice • God doesn’t call us to do things that are impossible • Our tendency to worry is controlled by conscience choices we make.

1. You must decide not to worry Four (4) reasons to make the decision not to worry. • Most of our worry is over things that are relatively trivial. • Dense fog. . . in a single drinking glass • Verse 25: there is more to living than food, drink, and clothing

1. You must decide not to worry Four (4) reasons to make the decision not to worry. • Worry is really a waste of time. • Verse 27: worry will not add quality or quantity to life • God can only add these, and He knows what is best • Why don’t we just ask, and leave it with Him?

1. You must decide not to worry Four (4) reasons to make the decision not to worry. • Worry is beneath our dignity. • Verse 26: would you like to have the life of a bird? Totally cared for by God? • We are also God’s creation, made in His image. • He has wonderful plans for each of us. • Why do we act as if He doesn’t?

1. You must decide not to worry Four (4) reasons to make the decision not to worry. • Worry is a faithless act. • Verse 30: To worry is to doubt God. He said not to worry and not to doubt His care. • To worry is to say, “This is a situation over which God has no control. I’m on my own!” • Heb 11:6 . . . “impossible”

1. You must decide not to worry Four (4) reasons to make the decision not to worry. Worry is a: • Trivial • Time wasting • Dehumanizing • Faithless HABIT

1. You must decide not to worry We already have “letter #22” in our hand, and we know how it all ends. Everything will end just like God says it will end. It’s all going to be OK, for those who are living faithful in Christ Jesus.

2. You must trust God to take care of you Vss 31 & 32 1 Peter 5:7 What would happen if we really trusted Him to take care of us? Why should we?

2. You must trust God to take care of you • A. His creation – the overwhelming Universe • Sun is 93,000,000 miles from us. • Sun is 900,000 miles in diameter • Earth is 7,000 miles, or 0.8% in size • B. His creation – the miniscule • atom : orange = orange : earth • Col 1:17 “ . . . and in Him all things hold together.” NASB

2. You must trust God to take care of you A huge Universe supported by invisible building blocks. He is working on so many levels, and at a scale we cannot even grasp. One thing faster than the speed of light is the speed of prayer.

3. You must give Jesus first place in your life. Vs 33 Can He provide these “other” things mentioned here? He says He can. Worry, fret, & anxiety are a result of letting His priority move out of 1st place.

3. You must give Jesus first place in your life. • He has given us the choice. • You can say “no”. • He will allow your decision to stand. • Haven’t we said “no” long enough? • Vs 24 precedes this passage, and states that no one can serve two masters.

3. You must give Jesus first place in your life. • We must serve only one master • Then vs 25 comes into our lives. . . “For this reason. . . do not be anxious. . .” • Eliminating worry begins with: • Choosing NOT to worry • Trusting God to take care of you • Giving Jesus 1st Place in your life

4. We must learn to live and work through one day at a time. • Vs 34 • Important • Jesus is not recommending a “sit back, do nothing, and let God take care of it” approach. • We have to be deal with the problems that come our way. If we don’t, we run the risk of falling into the Biblical category of the sluggard.

4. We must learn to live and work through one day at a time. • Important (con’t) • What He is giving us is a limit. • The limit to take care of today’s problems, and let tomorrow’s take care of themselves.

4. We must learn to live and work through one day at a time. • How old is an Eskimo? • “Almost . . . .” • “Almost one day.” • His day isn’t over yet. • They have learned to face one day only.

4. We must learn to live and work through one day at a time. Conquering worry does not mean that we should live irresponsible, foolish lives.

4. We must learn to live and work through one day at a time. • It DOES mean • We must avoid the anxiety-ridden approach to life that destroys peace, joy, and fellowship with God. • We focus on the tasks we can do today, leaving others for tomorrow. Not procrastination. Limits. • We serve and need God in every day that He gifts us. We bring him our daily praise.

Closure • Jesus’ teaching in Matt. 6 is simple: action eliminates worry. • We have covered (4) actions: • Decide not to worry • Trust God to take care of you • Give Jesus 1st priority in your life • Live as a “one day old” • This kind of action eliminates worry.

Closure • Omnipotent means all powerful. • Either He is or He isn’t. • God says He is, and He backs it up. • Spoke the Universe into existence • He controls time, space, matter, energy • He monitors every elementary particle in the Universe and in your body. • He is holding it all together at this moment.

Closure Then to all who are His sons and daughters, He commands us not to fret, not to be anxious, not to worry. We already have “letter number 22”, and we know how it all ends. Are you ready for that ending at this moment?

Jesus commands us, “Don’t Worry”