Eight Reasons Not To Be Anxoius (Continued)

This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. I hope you are rejoicing as well.

Thank you to those who enquired about my health, and prayed for me. I am doing much better today. God is faithful.

Yesterday we started looking at "Eight Reasons Not to be Anxious." We looked at the first four, and today we will look at the final four.

5. Unbelievers Are Anxious About Food and Clothing

The fifth and sixth reasons why a follower of Jesus shouldn't be anxious are given in verse 32: We shouldn't be anxious about what we eat or drink or wear because "the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all." Anxiety about the things of this world puts us on the same level with the world of unbelievers. It shows that we are really very much like the world in what makes us happy. And that ought not to be.

6. Your Heavenly Father Knows Your Needs

It also shows that we don't think our Father in heaven knows our needs. Or perhaps we don't think he has the heart of a loving Father. Anxiety shows that we are too close to the world and too far from God. So don't be anxious—the world has nothing eternal to offer, and your loving heavenly Father knows your needs now and forever.

7. God Will Carry Your Burdens if You Seek First His Kingdom

The seventh reason not to be anxious, in verse 33, is that when you seek the kingdom of God first, he works for you and provides all your needs. The best reason to stop being anxious is that when you do, God starts being anxious for you. It's such a foolish thing to insist on carrying anxious burdens which God has promised to carry for us when we put his kingly honor first in everything we do.

8. Tomorrow Will Be Anxious for Itself

The last argument in verse 34 says, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." In other words, God has appointed to each day its portion of pleasure and trouble. And as your days so shall your strength be. So don't misappropriate God's allotted troubles for tomorrow. Don't bring them forward into today in the form of anxiety. Believe that God will be God tomorrow.

The main point of all this is clear and unmistakable: Jesus does not want his followers to be anxious. He does not secure his kingdom by keeping his subjects in a state of worry. On the contrary, according to verse 33, the more primary, the more central his kingship becomes in our lives, the less anxiety we will have. Jesus came, lived, died, rose from the dead, in order that he might reign as King over an anxiety-free people.So come to Jesus. Forsake all other allegiances. Take your vow of loyalty to the King of kings. And seek first in all you do to make known his kingship over your life. This and this alone is the way to freedom from anxiety.

I love you guys, and pray you have a blessed, anxious-free day! Blessings!

Rejoicing (and spinning) in this wonderful day,

Pastor Rusty L. Blann