Anchor My Faith

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Author: Stephen Weller
616 words, 3 minutes read time

Do Not Be Anxious About Your Life

Scripture: Luke 12:22-26

With the previous lesson we finished a short section in which we covered the parable of the rich fool; the man who found pleasure in the riches of the world and not in the things of God. With this lesson we will begin a new section which we can all relate to; being anxious about life.

^{Lk 12:22} “[Then Jesus] said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁶ If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?”’

Jesus is speaking to his disciples and draws a connection between being anxious and the parable of the rich fool. “Therefore, I tell you” looks back to the content of verses 13 – 21 just covered and concludes that there was something said then that may have made the disciples anxious. The anxiety was most likely associated with the concern of being on guard against all covetousness. In the mind of Jesus, covetousness is a serious matter because he referred to the rich man as a fool.

The man in the parable became rich through productive farm land and smart timing on the storage and selling of his grain and goods. He saw this wealth as a means of bringing pleasure into his life; pleasure from delicious food and quality clothing. Jesus is warning his disciples not to be concerned over food and clothing to the degree that it encourages covetousness. The rich man wanted more because it provided him with greater security for the future. The more he had in storage, the longer he could live well.

The rich man may have been anxious over this security issue and that anxiety promoted covetousness. Jesus is telling his disciples not to be anxious about meeting this need for fool and clothing, but to wait upon God. If he cares for ravens, will not God care for us who are of more value than the ravens? No matter how hard we try we cannot earn our salvation, and neither can we add a single hour to the time God has determined for our death. God has cause us to be born spiritually at a precise time and he has determined the time we go to meet him, so don’t be anxious about what you eat or what you put on.

Jesus tells his disciples if they can’t do such a small thing as add one hour to the length of their life then why should they be anxious about the rest of life. Will not God take care of the time he has allotted you to live?

Conclusion

Let us not be anxious about the body, what we eat or put on, but let us feed on the word and work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Better food and clothing might be nice but are not necessary, however working out our salvation (the process of sanctification) has eternal importance. The purpose of life is to become more and more like Jesus and to share him with those around us and disciple those who believe.