Lillies of the Field

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

Jesus, in this passage, does not bring into question the need humans have for food and clothes. It was, after all, God who clothed Adam and Eve after they sinned, and it was Jesus who fed the five thousand and the four thousand.

Many preachers these days pass quickly over the verses and say, 'Stop thinking about your needs and think more about the needs of others.' And, 'Trying to acquire things is selfish.' This isn't the point Jesus is making here.

Jesus tells us his Father knows we need these things. His emphasis is on the priority of these things in our lives and whether each listener is living in faith or not.


There are atleast two places here where Jesus emphasizes the priority of these pursuits. He asks if life is more important than food, and he asks if the body is more important than clothes. If your answer is, 'Yes, I believe life and the body are more important than these things, these objects', then you are obligated to weigh life and the body more heavily than food and clothes.

The second place where Jesus addresses the priority of our tasks is in his command to 'seek first his kingdom and his righteousness'. He does not say, 'Seek only his kingdom...'. Although God does at times require sacrifices from his children, they are not what he desires.

Christ's yoke is easy and his burden is light. He didn't come from heaven to make our lives miserable. In fact, he didn't even come so we could serve him; he came to be a blessing to all human beings for our welfare and also so that we could bless each other.

The other salient aspect of this passage is the emphasis on faith.

The pagans are in a sense led by their doubts. They doubt they will have the food and clothes they wish for. They are always trying to compensate for these doubts by making vigorous efforts and running restlessly after them.

It is important to realize that Christ is not telling his followers they should stop working. His emphasis is that they seek first God's kingdom and that they trust God will extend all these things to them.

In some ways this passage mirrors the words of Paul in his first letter to Timothy. He did not order the rich to give away their riches, but he commanded the rich to not put their trust in their riches. Under divine inspiration Paul tells us the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (and not that money is the root of all kinds of evil). The faith element is where Paul tells his readers that God "richly supplies us with all things to enjoy".

So the next time you are tempted to worry, ask yourself if your anxiousness for food and clothes is of more value to you than your life and your body. When you doubt that God is able to meet your needs, consider the lillies of the field and remember how God clothes them.