"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matt 6:24-34). 

Jesus gives his followers a direct command in Matthew 6:25: they are not to be unduly anxious about the essentials of life. The Lord offers valid arguments or reasons as to why Christians should not worry. The first argument is from dregree—that is the lesser to the greater. "Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" (Matt. 6:26). The reasoning is compelling. If God will take care of the birds that do no labor for their food, will he not also feed his own children? The answer is, "Yes! God will provide for His own." God places a premium on people and he does so even when man does not.

The second argument Jesus uses against worry is the meaninglessness of the time spent in such a state of mind. "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" (Matt. 6:27). I knew a dear Christian lady who was diagnosed with cancer. The end was near and yet this wonderful woman became an inspiration to all that met her. During the final days she kept saying, "I'm not worried. I am going home." Only the grace of God and a firm desire to obey Jesus Christ can elicit such words from a heart. It is true that there are many things in life that are final, irreversible, and unchangeable. The day of death is certain. Income taxes are certain. The height of a person is certain. Therefore, on a practical level, why worry? Worry has never changed a single event. Many years ago, in the early 1940’s during World War II, Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr was preaching in the Congregational Church of Heath, a little hill village in Western Massachusetts, where for many years he and his wife used to spend the summer. He wrote this prayer:

"God, grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

There is yet another reason why the Christian should not worry. According to Matthew 6:31-32 worry is characteristic of the heathen. It is not simply lack of faith or else we could say, "Lord, increase our faith." Worry is much more serious for it speaks of being like the person who has no covenant relationship with the living God. Our Father in heaven knows what our needs are. He knows because he cares enough to monitor our lives. But God does more than just take notice of our needs. The implication is that he is willing to supply them.

If you are prone to worry, let me exhort you to do the following. First, confess the time spent in worry since it is sin. Worry wastes time, energy, and emotions. It is sin because it misses the mark of having the peace that passes all understanding. The Bible says that God will keep those in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon him.

Second, reaffirm in prayer your faith in God. There is a language of faith and it ought to be spoken. The language of faith should be spoken to our selves and it should be communicated to God in verbal prayer. Reviewing what God has done in the past enhances faith. That is what David did. David stood before Goliath and said: "As God delivered the lion and the she bear into my hand so will He deliver you."