River Road Baptist Church

A year ago

Matthew 6:25-34

25  "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

26  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

27  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28  So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

29  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

32  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

34  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We live in a unique time for all of us. No one alive today can remember the Spanish Flu of 1918 which killed between 50-100 million people. No one in America can remember such a time as this in which cities and states have called for a “lockdown” of its citizens due to a health scare. No previous Governor has declared his whole state in this “lockdown” declaring that over 25 million people in his state will be infected. Although those businesses that are considered a necessity will remain open: like grocery stores, banks, gas stations and cannabis stores.

We see people on the verge of a panic more than a pandemic. People stockpile water (can’t they turn on a faucet?), toilet paper (haven’t heard that it has virus killing properties), more food items than they will eat in 6 months, and some haven’t cleaned their house so well in their lifetime.

I haven’t heard so many be so worried about so much in my lifetime. I don’t recall this much worry after 9/11.

I have seen others who are interviewed on the news who don’t seem to care if they get it or pass it on to someone else who may die from it. Granted these were the “spring breakers” on the beaches in Florida and around the country but it betrays they’re selfish view of life. “I don’t want my spring break ruined! The bars are closed, they restaurants are closed! I came here to drink, and party and they don’t want us to! If I get it, I get it. Who cares?”

But by and large, most mature people are concerned. There is a difference between concern and worry. We don’t throw caution to the wind. We don’t ignore advice from the health professionals. We don’t ignore emergency declarations from the government whether we agree with them or not. But we don’t become consumed with worry.

Jesus did have something to say about worry in the Sermon on the Mount. He, in essence, said that nothing is worth worrying about, but everything is worth praying about. What good has worry ever done for you? What positive affect has worry ever accomplished in your life?

Our Father knows what we need. Christians should be the very best examples during such times. We don’t have a consuming worry of our lives but a consuming confidence in our God.