Food and Clothing

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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? (Matthew 6:25).

Over the door of my Old Testament Professor’s door in Seminary was a sign that read, “Your life is God’s gift to you, what you make of it is your gift to God.” I’ve thought of those words many times since my seminary days. My life has been filled with successes and struggles, good days and bad, just like everyone else. But one thing I have known through it all - God has been faithful to provide for my needs and the needs of my family, without fail. That’s His promise to all who trust in Him faithfully.

In Matthew 6:1-24, Jesus warned His disciples against worldliness and materialism. In verses 25-34 He encouraged them to trust in God to supply their needs. He used four illustrations to emphasize this. The first illustration is stated as a question - Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? It is a rhetorical question that anticipates the answer ‘Yes!’ 

Food and clothing are basic necessities in life. The disciples were aware of how God provided these things for the Israelites during their 40 years in the wilderness. You in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell (Nehemiah 9:19-21).

The point is this: worrying about food and clothing is unnecessary to those who believe and trust in God. He gave us life and a body, and He will give us those things necessary to sustain them both. The Apostle Peter wrote, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7). When we are in need, God will provide. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our best to provide for ourselves - we should. But when we are unable to, God can and will.

“What a comfort it is in knowing, O Lord, how much You do care for those who trust in You every single day for the necessities of life. You have been faithful to provide for me and my family for many years even though I have not always been as faithful to You. My life truly is a gift from You, and I pray my life of faithful service will be an honorable gift to You. Amen.

Pastor