Anxiety

Mt. 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 own body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing.

 

The section on anxiety begins with a 'therefore.' Looking back to verses 19-21, it warns believers to lay up treasures in heaven not on this earth. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. No doubt treasuring things on this earth and trying amass a great deal of these treasures creates anxiety. If clothes, food, and shelter were unimportant to me, then I wouldn't worry about them, but if they are something that I value, that makes a statement about who I am, then of course, I would be concerned about them. Anxiety over these temporal issues says a great deal about my heart. Am I treasuring these things? Do I want to be held in esteem by the world? Do I want to look in style? Who sets the standard for this style? Is it the world? How easy it is to buy into what the world has to offer, to want what they have, and to live like they live!

 

God does not want me to be anxious. He wants me to examine my heart. What am I treasuring? If I am treasuring Him and His words, then His promises will by my stay. His word tells me that He feeds the birds and clothes the lilies of the fields. If He clothes them and their life span is so short, isn't it logical that He will clothe and feed us. Where is my faith? If I worry about these things, then my faith is small because my heart is divided. I am not treasuring the things of God but instead treasuring the things of the world. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, of he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. And that includes what money can buy. God clearly tells me that I can't love the things of the world and the things of God. If my loyalty is with Him, then anxiety over insignificant things of this world will not be a problem. My heart will be treasuring eternal things!

 

 For the Gentiles seek after 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 shall be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow...Finally, all the dots are connected. First, where is my heart? Secondly, who am I serving? Where is my allegiance? Thirdly, God says that these things are the same thing that the Gentiles seek.  As I watch their pursuit, do I want what they have? Or do I want to rest and trust in the Father who knows what I need. If I choose Him, and my heart is treasuring eternal things, then He has promised to give me what I need. I have no need to worry. But if I am treasuring temporal things and wanting what the world has, then I will worry. What a revealing passage! Anxiety over these things is a matter of the heart, over what I treasure and over where my allegiance is. I choose God and His promises; therefore anxiety need not characterize my life.

 

Father,

Build my faith so that I can trust you implicitly. Reveal to me the issues of my own heart.

In Jesus name,

Amen