Verse of the Day 9/13

 

Verse of the Day 9/13

 

Matthew 6:27    And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Are you anxious about something  today?  It could be a business meeting, facing conflict with someone, where the money is going to come from to pay a bill, or what the results will be from some medical test that was just performed.  Anxiety, being anxious is a natural trait, we don't have to plan for it, it just happens.  It is one  thing to be anxious about the "bigger" things but quite another to be all wound up about the trivial.  Confrontation with the trivial, you think you can win, you'll lose.

 

A while back I lead a Bible study through the book of John.  As I went through it I paid particular attention to the questions  that Jesus asked.  They were for his hearers then and for us today.  As I read this passage I noticed several questions asked by Jesus in regards to being anxious.  "Isn't life more than food and  clothing?  Aren't you more valuable to him than these?  Why do you have so little faith?

 

He brings up the subject of being anxious four times in this  short but powerful passage.  It should catch our attention.  Today's verse was asked in the form of a  question but within it there is a promise.  John Piper writes, "This is a promise of sorts — the simple promise of reality that you can discover from experience: Being anxious will simply not do you any good. That's a promise. This is not the main argument, but sometimes we just have to get tough with ourselves and say, "Soul, this fretting is absolutely useless. It promises nothing. You are not only messing up your own day, but a lot of other people's as well. Renounce it. Leave it with God. And get on with your work.  Anxiety accomplishes nothing worthwhile. That's a promise. Believe it. Act on it.

 

If Jesus is asking you any of those questions about anxiety today may we realize and acknowledge that "anxiety accomplishes nothing worthwhile, that's a promise, believe it and act upon it.

 

Blessings,

Mike

 

Matthew 6:25-34New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁵ "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁸ "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

³¹ "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.³³ Seek the Kingdom of God^[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

³⁴ "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.

 

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