THINK TOGETHER
Have you ever felt anxious? What makes you feel anxious?
READ TOGETHER
I guess it’s a silly question to ask if you’ve ever felt anxious isn’t it? We have all felt anxious, or scared, or worried at some time in our life haven’t we?
But Jesus doesn’t want our lives to be filled with anxiousness and worry. Sometimes we can feel anxious and we can’t help it because something might be wrong with our body or with our brain. When that happens we might need to get help from a doctor or medicine. But sometimes we feel anxious because we choose to worry about what’s going on in our life. Sometimes we get anxious because we think we have to prove how great we are to God and others.
That’s the kind of anxiousness that Jesus talks about in his Sermon on the Mount. Listen to what he says:
Matthew 6:25-33. 25 “Therefore I tell you, 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? 26 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? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
It appears that we human beings are the only ones in God’s creation that worry. Plants don’t worry. Birds don’t worry. Do you think whales worry? What about giraffes? Do they worry? Probably not. But humans? Yep, we worry… a lot.
What are some things that we worry about?
Jesus wants us to replace worry with worship. He wants us to know that we can be more like the birds and the flowers. They don’t worry about tomorrow. They take one day at a time and simply trust God for what they need for that day. Yes, birds work hard every day, but not to achieve anything or to get a better life. Their work is worship because it is not about accomplishing something, it’s just about enjoying life. And what about the flowers? What do they do all day? Do they try to do more each day? Are they trying to be better flowers than all the other flowers? Or do they just be what God made them to be?
When we have trusted in Jesus we have a “Heavenly Father” who takes care of us day by day. When we have trusted in Jesus there’s nothing left for us to accomplish or earn in this life. All of life becomes simply worshiping God by trusting him moment by moment. We become happy when we stop trying to be happy. We become less anxious when we stop trying to prove how great we are. And we have less worries the more we know that God loves us no matter what.
Because of Jesus we have a Heavenly Father who will always take care of us.
With Jesus we don’t have to worry today, instead we can just worship.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Go outside and look at the birds and the flowers. What are the birds doing? What are the flowers doing? Why do you think they aren’t worried? Do birds and flowers try to prove how great they are or show-off? Or do they just trust God?
Here’s a song about not worrying.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus,
Sometimes I get anxious and worry about things, but help me to work hard like the birds today and trust you to take care of me tomorrow.
Amen.
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