A word fitly spoken is like APPLES OF GOLD in a setting of silver-Proverbs 25v11
As humans we are naturally susceptible to worry and anxiety and there is a lot that worries us -finance, security, health, our family, the future, etc. But worry was never God’s plan for mankind as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6v25 ‘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 than food, and the body more 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? This is easier said than done -instead we are like those described in Ecclesiastes 2v33: What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labour under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This is not what Christians should experience-instead we are to lay hold of the promise we read of in 1 Peter 5v7 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
Instead of being CAREFUL (full of care) we should be CAREFREE and experience freedom from the burden of anxiety, worry and care. This is not being CARELESS (irresponsible) because we still have concern about things, but we won’t be overwhelmed unlike the person referred to in Jesus’ parable of the sower in Matthew 13v22 “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful”. God wants us to be fruitful and that is only possible when we become saturated in His Word and not believe the lie that materialism brings significance and satisfaction. All it brings is worry and discontentment.
If you want to be carefree then trust the Lord and obey His Word all the time -that is why Jesus gave the Lord’s Prayer “Give us this day our daily bread”. In conclusion we were never made to be “worriers” and as a result lose the joy of living -that is why Jesus said in Matthew 6v34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
God Bless Graeme Greenwood