Why Worry?
by Andy Cokayne 22 March 2022
Reading Matthew 6 v 25-34
I have been reading a book by Jonathan Sachs who was the Chief Rabbi for the UK and the Commonwealth, in it he quotes a Jewish saying 'Start worrying, details to follow.' It amused me, yet I realised it can easily describe our attitude.
Over the past couple of years we have had the pandemic to worry about, 'Will we avoid the virus or not?' 'If I catch it, how severe will it be?' With the virus currently, largely, having less severe effects, we can easily be tempted to put the pandemic to one side, but then look for our next 'worry'. Yet should our lives really be constrained by one worry after another?
Jesus knew what we are like, and so had this advice for his listeners.
'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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6 v 25-28).
No doubt Jesus would have had a wise response to 'Start worrying, details to follow.'
The apostle Peter addressed the same issue in his first letter, with one of my favourite verses in the bible 1 Peter 5v7 'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.' So why worry? It is easy to worry, yet we know that it does not help us. We need to pray and take Jesus' and Peter's advice to heart.
Song - These are the Days of Elijah
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Prayer
Heavenly Father increase my trust in you and help me to realise that you care for me more than I can ever imagine. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen