Do Not Be Anxious | Matthew 6:25-34

SUGGESTED VERSES FOR MEMORIZATION & MEDITATION

But 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? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:30-34)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

OPENING THOUGHT

The Sermon on the Mount contains some of the most popular portions of Jesus’ earthly teachings, but its primary purpose is teaching His followers about living within the kingdom of heaven. So far we have studied the characteristics that ought to define a citizen of God’s kingdom as described within the Beatitudes, Jesus proclaimed the purpose of His disciples as being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, Christ established how the Old Testament commandments fit into His kingdom, and He informed us of the right and wrong ways of giving to the poor, praying, and fasting.

Last week, Jesus taught on storing earthly treasures or heavenly treasures. This picked up His thought on seeking a reward for our good works from the Father, not from other people. If we seek any kind of treasure on earth, we know that it is temporal, since we and everything on earth will pass away. Thus, Jesus encouraged us to make an investment toward heavenly treasure, which is eternal. For Christ’s followers, it is black and white: we will either serve God and gain an eternal treasure, or we will serve lesser gods and gain a temporary treasure.

Today’s text is immediately tied into the previous one through the word therefore. If our treasure is eternally secure in God Himself, we will truly be able to live a life without anxiety. Or perhaps I should more accurately say, ONLY if our treasure is eternally secure in God will we ever be able to obey Jesus’ command: do not be anxious about your life. Ultimately, Jesus is inviting us to surrender our worries about life over to the Father. Since we know that God upholds the universe by the word of His power, this should be an easy decision, but these verses are just as challenging as they are encouraging. Will we truly surrender control of our life to the sovereign God?

Read verses 25-33 and discuss the following.

After telling His followers to store up treasures in heaven, Jesus then states, “THEREFORE, do not be anxious about your life.” How does last week’s text (verses 19-24) provide the groundwork for conquering anxiety?
Jesus gives two examples, birds and lilies, to illustrate God’s provision and providence. How do these examples point to the futility of worrying?
Verse 33 is a very well-known verse, but what are some ways that we might seek God’s kingdom first? What does “and all things will be added to you” mean?

Read verse 34 and discuss the following.

Here Jesus tells us not to be anxious about tomorrow because each day has its own trouble. In what ways can we practically live this verse? How does it relate to James 4:13-16?

ACTIONS TO CONSIDER

Obey. Make a list of things that tend to cause you to be anxious. Recalling Jesus’ statement in verse 27, does your worry over those things ever help?
Pray. Following Paul’s instructions in Philippians 4:6-7, bring your anxieties before God in prayer and supplication and ask that God would grant you peace in Christ that surpasses understanding.