Creator, Father, King #184

Do not be anxious 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?

FOR YEARS, ORNITHOLOGISTS—scientists who study birds—believed that there were approximately nine thousand to ten thousand bird species worldwide. However, in December 2016, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City published a study suggesting that there are as many as eighteen thousand avian species.

Boy, if that’s true, things are really going to the birds!

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used our feathered friends to teach an important lesson on anxiety and trust in God. Jesus’ original audience had plenty of cares. Life was hard. Many people didn’t know where the next day’s meals would come from.

Yet Jesus told the crowd, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. . . . Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26, ESV).

He made a similar point about how God beautifully adorns flowers: “Why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. . . . 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?” (verses 28, 30).

What’s It Mean?

Jesus’ point is simple: if God invests so much care into the lesser parts of his creation like birds and flowers, he will certainly provide for the daily needs of humans, who are his image-bearers (Genesis 1:26-27)—and even more so for those who are his redeemed children!

So there is no room for worrying on our part. Worrying, in fact, is sin. Worry reveals a lack of trust in God and his goodness.

God is not distant or miserly. Our loving heavenly Father is near, he knows all our needs, and he tenderly cares for his children.

Anxiously chasing after life’s basic necessities is a bird-brained idea! Jesus said it’s the mark of an unbeliever (Matthew 6:31-32). Instead, “seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (verse 33).

Now What?

Read Matthew 6:25-34 and give your worries to God.

Did You Know?

The largest bird in the world is the ostrich. The smallest bird is the two-inch-long bee hummingbird.