The Open Secret of Worry-Free Living 1

Friends, it is a pleasure to have you again. I want to speak on the Open Secret of Worry-Free Living. And we will take our text from,

Matthew 6:25-33

²⁵“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what

you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  ²⁷Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁸“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the

oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly

Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

PRAYER:

Father, we pray that the entrance of Your Word now would set us free from worry and anxiety…in Jesus Name. Amen!

The Open Secret of Worry-Free Living

Worry-free living is a secret to many people. But for those who would open the bible to themselves and open their hearts to God, worry-free living is not a secret. Worry or anxiety is part and parcel of human existence. It comes with living in a broken world full of uncertainties. But we don’t have to succumb to it. Worry could be good or bad just as there are good fears and bad fears. Worry or concern is good when it is for others. We find this in 1 Corinthians 12:24 and 25, where the Apostle Paul says:

1 Corinthians 12:24-25

²⁴but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, ²⁵that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same concern for one another.

The same concern – should have the same care for one another. That is the same word that we encountered in our reading in Mathew 6 that is translated: worry.

Paul enumerates the troubles and pains he experienced in his service for Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:28

²⁸besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

Again – deep concern! That is the same word, concern, the same word that is translated worry in our text. This kind of worry, that is: having concern for people, having concern for others, especially those in the family of God, is what William Barclay, one servant of God, calls enabling foresight. When you have this concern for others, he says, you have an enabling foresight; and this is against disabling worry which is the bad worry. It is the disabling worry that we need to be free from and this is what this message is about: worry-free living. How do we identify bad or disabling worry which Jesus warns us against?

1. When worry or anxiety comes from the expenditure of time, energy and resources on non-essential things.

This was the problem that Martha had in St. Luke 10:40 and 42

Luke 10:40-42

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve

alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” ⁴¹And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴²But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Why would you term her service to Jesus Christ nonessential? You may ask. It was Jesus who said that. Jesus said she was distracted, drawn about in all different directions, worried about nonessential things. Jesus did not need a big and an elaborate meal, but a quiet rest. How essential are the things you claim to be doing for God or for people in the name of God? Sometimes you visit people in order to have fellowship with them, and they leave you by yourself, and they will busy themselves with preparing an elaborate entertainment. Often I will say to them, ‘please come. I have come to spend time with you, not for entertainment’.

1. Worry that stems from too much involvement in the things of this world is disabling worry.

Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares, ‘worry’, of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

This is the parable of the sower that Jesus gave in Mathew 13:22.

Are you so involved in the things of time that you do not have time for the things of eternity, so involved in the things of this world that you do not have time for the things of heaven? Some Christians spend so much energy and money on things that are not even remotely related to Christianity but become agitated when we talk of money for the work of God. You spend money on things that do not have eternal value. But then, when we talk about money for the work of God that has eternal value you become defensive. Commenting on the Peron who has too much involvement in the things of this life, William Barclay, the servant of God I quoted earlier says, ‘his engagement in the world may be with things which in themselves are not bad things, but the second best can often be the worst enemy of the best.’

The second best can often be the worst enemy of the best.

• Worrying about pleasing the wrong people is the kind of worry that is disabling.

The Apostle Paul raises this issue in:

1 Corinthians 7:32-34

³²But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. ³³But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. ³⁴There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the

world—how she may please her husband.

Worrying about pleasing the wrong person or the wrong people is disabling worry. Our primary concern always should be to please God, and when we do we will never fear the face of men; and those who fear God will be pleased also.

1. Worrying about the future.

This brings us to where we read in Mathew 6: disabling worry. In it, we see why disabling worry or anxiety is bad. In this text, Mathew 6:25-32 we will see why disabling worry or anxiety is bad.

According to William Barclay, disabling worry is blind, disabling worry is useless, disabling worry is heathenic, disabling worry  incapacitates. And these are the bad things about worry that Jesus wants us to get away from.

When we come back next time we will take these things that I have just mentioned briefly and spend a little time on them, and conclude that text when we come back next week net time.

PRAYER:

Father, we want to thank You so much for Your precious Word especially in this area of anxiety or worry that has created havoc in the lives of men, predisposed them to many kinds of sicknesses and diseases. And we want You to set us free from worry and anxiety, especially the kind that disables us. Thank You again for Your Word, in Jesus Name, Amen!