“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26 NIV)
Again, the Lord Jesus directs our attention to the birds. They serve as an illustration of Jesus’ urgent call: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” (Matthew 6:25 NIV)
If even small birds can trust in the care of their heavenly Father, then surely the same is true for us.
Jesus is not saying that we do not need to take responsibility for providing for ourselves. If you look closely at birds, you will often see them searching for worms, picking up seeds, or building a nest. But they do not worry about the future while doing so. They have no way of storing up supplies for the years ahead, and so they live one day at a time. We, too, are called to cultivate that same attitude: “Do not worry about tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:34 NIV).
This attitude is liberating and gives us room for what truly matters: the Kingdom of God. The less we occupy ourselves with worrying about the things of this world, the more attention we can give to God’s coming world.
Do you live without worry, or are you someone who tends to worry a lot? How could you focus more on God’s Kingdom?