MATTHEW 6:25-34
Thought 1. Do not worry: watch the fowls of the air and learn to trust God for shelter and food.

Thought 2. God knows the needs of His followers. “I know all the fowls of the mountains,” God says (Ps.50:11; cp.
Job 38:41; Ps.147:9).

A sparrow “shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Mt.10:29-
31).

1) God knows every fowl on the earth, the innumerable number of every sort and size. And He feeds and
shelters them all.
2) God knows every believer on the earth, even the most minute details about him (the number of hairs).
Therefore the believer need not fear. God will feed and shelter him if the believer will just seek Him first
(Mt.6:33).

Thought 3. “Ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Mt.10:31). The believer can rest assured that God will feed
and shelter him. God will not starve him. The believer’s responsibility is to simply “seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness” (Mt.6:33).

Thought 4. Nothing dampens a person’s spirit and kills his testimony as much as the cares of the world (worldli-
ness). (1 Jn.2:15-16; cp. Ro.12:2.)

Thought 5. God will not indulge license, that is, laziness, slothfulness, and lack of planning and initiative and effort.
Jesus planned ahead (Jn.12:6) and preached industriousness (Lk.16:8 cp. 1-10). The Bible is clear about the duty of
man to work, even to work extra in order to have enough to give to others (Eph.4:28). (See note—Mt.6:25-34.)

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(6:27) Worry—Anxiety—Stature: do not worry about your stature, for worry is pointless. The word “stature” (helikian)
means height, quality or status gained by growth, and sometimes it means age. The word cubit (pechus) literally means
measure of space or distance (approximately 18 inches); but it can also mean a measure of time or age (Jn.9:21). Therefore,
the verse can read either “who can add one cubit to his stature” or one minute to his life span.
The point is striking. Worry is senseless—just as senseless as trying to add to one’s height or lengthen a minute to one’s
life span (when it is time for one to die). Everyone does not have a normal body. All bodies are not perfectly formed, not in
this world. The world is corruptible and imperfect (see note—Mt.6:19-20), but there is hope, a glorious hope in God—a hope
that acknowledges that God loves and cares and has promised a new heavens and earth that will be perfect. In the perfect
heavens and earth all bodies will be normal and perfectly formed. God shall “wipe away all tears” (Rev.21:4; cp. 1-7; 2
Pt.3:10-12; cp. 3-18. See note, Body—Jn.21:1 for more discussion.)
How does a person receive this hope?

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overco-
meth the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 Jn.5:4-5).

Thought 1. Do not worry: think about your stature and learn to trust God. Do not concentrate your mind and heart
and effort on the world. That is senseless. Concentrate and focus upon God and His righteousness. Such assures a
perfect change in your life and body when you enter the next world.

Thought 2. Some things are senseless in this world, extremely senseless.
First, it is senseless for men to seek to add an inch to their stature, and to care for their body in the here and now
and ignore the hereafter. Think about it. All men are immortal; they are to exist forever. It is senseless to concentrate
on a few short years upon earth.
Second, it is senseless for believers to seek to add an inch to their stature, and to worry about their body in the
here and now and neglect life hereafter. It is senseless for the believer to walk through life ignoring his Father and
not trusting His care and love.

Thought 3. Some persons have abnormal and imperfect statures. How do they keep from being anxious and worry-
ing?
1) There is a glorious hope for all.

“For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Sa-
viour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself” (Ph.3:20-21).

2) There is the assuring promise of God to work all things out for good to those who truly love Him.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose” (Ro.8:28).

3) There is the strong challenge to be content with one’s condition or lot in life.
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