25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to 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, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6 NASB)

This passage teaches us not to worry about our finances. Jesus refers to those who worry as those of “little faith.” Faith is the cure for worry. Small faith results in great anxiety. A large faith is the key to inner peace which is much more valuable than great wealth. Note that Jesus wants those with small faith to grow and increase in their faith.

Faith can be strengthened through meditating on a line of reasoning or teaching. Jesus seeks to increase their faith by making simple arguments that anyone can understand. By meditating on these arguments and repeating them over and over again you can grow in faith. These are some of the things that you can and should be saying to yourself.

“God feeds the birds of the air even though they don’t plan ahead and work to guarantee their food supply. God will provide me with food because I am much more important than the birds. God is willing to clothe the flowers, even though they only live for a very short period of time. God is willing to clothe me. I am more valuable than a flower.”

“Worry doesn’t do any good. I can’t add one single hour to my life by worrying. On the other hand, I can waste many hours of my life by worrying. If I put God’s kingdom first in my life God will provide for my basic necessities.”

Teachers in the “faith movement” place a strong emphasis on confessing your faith. They say that you can go from a weak faith to a strong faith by confessing a promise of God over and over again, preferably out loud. On the basis of Matthew six I think we would have to say that the faith teachers are right on this one. Jesus is giving us arguments that we can repeat to ourselves over and over again so that we can grow in faith and inner peace.

We should note that there is no promise here that God will give me luxuries. There are other passages that would seem to indicate that God will help us financially to do better than the simple necessities of life, but first we must have our hearts right before God. Paul echoes what Jesus is saying in Matthew six when he exhorts us in I Timothy 6:8, “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”

We live in times of tremendous financial uncertainty. There are those who fear that we may actually slip from a recession into a worldwide depression. It would be a very good thing for every Christian to confront this fear with bold and biblical thinking.

What would happen if I were to lose my job and be unable to find another? What would happen if I were to lose my cell phone, my cable TV, and my internet access? What would happen if my computer and my X-Box were to break (as they inevitably will) and I would be unable to replace them? What if I could no longer afford a car and had to rely on my bicycle, walking, and public transportation? What would I do? How would I survive?

I would be just fine. I would put God first and trust Him to help me with the real necessities of life. The sun would continue to rise and set. And my personal happiness would continue to be in direct proportion to the amount of time I spend seeking God. With more stuff or less stuff, my personal happiness seems to be dependent on the whole God inside thing and how much time and attention I give to Him.

I can’t close without making one final point. Those who want to say that man is just a part of nature and that a man is not intrinsically more valuable than an animal are in direct disagreement with Jesus Christ. He says I am more important that a bird or a flower. I am a created being made in the image of God. I have a right to be here. I have a right to thankfully (and responsibly) use the resources of this planet. If someone wants to argue that point (and in these days, many do) don’t argue with me; argue with Him.