Consider the Lilies: Matthew 6:25-34

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 than food, and the body more than clothes?

Jesus had just finished teaching about treasure and masters. Now he addressed the universal human disease: anxiety.

Do not worry. The command appeared six times in these verses—not a suggestion but a directive.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Look. Jesus pointed to the sky where sparrows swooped. They had no granaries, no retirement accounts, no strategic plans. Yet they ate. The Father fed them.

And you—image of God, object of divine love, crown of creation—are you not worth more than sparrows?

"Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

The question exposed worry's futility. Anxiety accomplishes nothing. It does not lengthen life or solve problems. It only consumes the worrier.

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Flowers. Wildflowers on the Galilean hills, bursting with color, more gorgeous than Solomon's robes. They did nothing to earn their beauty. God simply clothed them.

"If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

The grass lasted a season, then became fuel. Yet God adorned it beautifully. How much more would he care for his children?

You of little faith. The diagnosis was gentle but pointed. Worry is a faith problem.

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Pagans chase necessities because they have no Father. But you have a Father who knows. He is not ignorant of your needs, not indifferent to your situation.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The alternative to worry was not passivity but priority. Seek first. Put the kingdom at the top of the list, and the necessities will follow.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

One day at a time. Tomorrow's problems belong to tomorrow. Today has its own weight—carry only that.

The hillside audience lived close to poverty. Their next meal was genuinely uncertain. And Jesus told them: look at birds, consider lilies, trust your Father.

The command has not changed. Anxiety still steals today by borrowing tomorrow's trouble. And the antidote remains: seek first the kingdom, and let the Father handle the rest.