Worrying About Daily Necessities

Worrying About Daily Necessities

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Matthew 6:25

In this passage, Jesus delivers a scathing sermon against worry. Worry shows lack of trust, and therefore it’s opposed to the gospel of Christ. Worry is a problem for the world at large as well as for Christians.

The devil hates anyone who wants to live a Christian life and declares that Christ is Lord. The devil, the ruler of this world, keeps opposing and antagonizing believers. He can’t attack them through God’s Word and faith, so he attacks them with what is under his authority and control. Believers are trapped in their bodies, which are still in Satan’s kingdom. So he harasses and imprisons them, deprives them of food and drink, and constantly threatens to take away all their wealth and possessions. As this is happening, believers naturally try to find ways to escape these calamities and avoid losing their property.

The people of this world, however, praise those who strive for wealth and possessions. Instead of seeing striving for wealth as a failure to trust God, they consider it a commendable virtue and a praiseworthy character trait.

Take note of what it means to serve wealth. It means undue concern about the needs and necessities of life, such as worrying about what you will eat and what you will wear. In short, it means thinking only about this life and accumulating a large fortune under the mistaken notion that this life will go on forever. We don’t have to consider daily necessities, such as eating, drinking, and buying clothes, as serving and worshiping wealth. Purchasing and storing food are essential for life. The sin, however, is being concerned about daily necessities and setting our hearts on them as sources of comfort and security.