Jesus On Your Life

By guest writer William Chadwick

“So I tell you, don’t worry about the food or drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes." Matthew 6:25 NCV

There are people who go through their lives with no troubles or concerns. They don't worry about what other people think. They never worry about their jobs, kids, spouse, health, or credit score. They are completely at peace.

I don't know those people.

For the rest of us, Jesus has some words.

Many of us have been reading our Bibles for a long time. Sometimes we don't see our lives in the Bible because we use a favorite translation. The words are so familiar that it's been years since we thought through what they mean. We could quote the verses while working on our checkbook or while chewing bubble-gum and walking.

We can be like the little children James Dobson describes in his book "Dare to Discipline." The children cause lots of trouble in the neighbor hood. Their mother comes out every little bit and yells at the kids to stop what they're doing. But the children completely ignore it and continue what they're doing. "Oh yeah, that sounds like mom. But she doesn't really mean it." We've heard it so much that we're not listening anymore.

We say things like "Well, that doesn't really apply to me. What I'm facing is slightly different."

When I read Matthew 6:25, for a while I've seen it as saying, "William, you can worry about bills or finances or your job, just don't worry about food and clothes." Even if I also read on to Matthew 6:34, for many years it's seemed to say, "William it's perfectly acceptable to worry about your future, just so long as you don't worry about food and clothes in your future." I saw it as strictly a food and clothes passage. I have never really felt concerned that I wouldn't get enough food. And, except for a few minutes when I was fourteen, I've never cared about clothes. So, I've been thinking that whole part of the New Testament was written specifically for people who lived in poor countries (food) and women (clothes).

You may say, Wait! That's not what it says. Well, if you read the whole passage and take it as a whole, it does seem to be focused on food and clothes.

That is, it does if you're not paying attention.

One day recently, I was reading the same verse in the Holman Christian Standard Bible. And it leapt off the page at me: "Don’t worry about your life."

There were no student loan bills when Jesus said these words. No. But, the consequences of failure were much more severe. They didn't have food stamps or soup kitchens.

After telling people not to collect stuff, Jesus gets more basic. He says not to worry about what keeps you alive: clothes, which keep you warm in the winter, and food, which keeps you from dying.

If Jesus were here today, he would probably say things like,

        "How many months will worrying add to your job?"
        "How does worry save your marriage?"
        "Which credit card company reduces your balance based on how much time you spend worrying?"
        "How many cancer cells are killed with worry?"

It's very simple, "Don't worry about your life." It applies to you.

You have permission. From God. Stop worrying. God is saying, "Cut it out."