Consider the Lillies....

Reflection on Matthew 6: 25-30

The words of Jesus are profound and are as relevant today as they have always been.

But we must be sure just what Jesus is telling us.

It is not ordinary, prudent forsight and planning that Jesus has an issue with – for that is essential and necessary for life.

It is worry that He has an issue with. The care-worn worried fear that robs life of all its joy.

First of all he says, trust God. After all, God gave each of us the gift of life, a gift that far exceeds our often petty worries about the material aspects of life.

Then He makes a comparison between ourselves and other parts of God’s creation.

He first speaks about the birds. They have no worry in their lives, and make no attempt to pile up goods for an unseen and unforeseeable future; yet their lives go on.

The point that Jesus is making is not that birds don’t work; no-one works harder than the average sparrow to make a living; it is that they don’t worry.

Humans have a tendency to worry and strain and to seek a security that is ultimately illusory, for God is in control of your ultimate destiny.

Then he tries to tell us that worry is in any event useless because it achieves nothing. It won’t add a second to your life anyway – what it does do is robs your present of its joy and peace and serenity.

And then Jesus talks about the flowers, which is most pertinent for us tonight.

They enjoy a brief lifespan, yet in that brief life they are clothed with a beauty that surpasses the robes of Kings.

If God clothes such a short-lived flower with a beauty that is beyond man’s power to imitate, how much more will he care for humanity which is the crown of creation.

Then Jesus prescribes some ways of defending oneself against life’s worries.

We sing a hymn “Seek ye first the kingdom of God”. Concentrating on doing of and the acceptance of God’s will is the way to defeat worry.

The second way is living in the present moment. Handle the demands of each day as it comes.

Mindfulness is all the rage at the moment in the West now, taken originally from the Buddhist tradition.

But here we have Jesus advocating the same thing. We spend too much time worrying about an unforeseeable future or stuck in the past going over things that we cannot change because they are gone.

Live and love more in the present and really appreciate your life.

Consider the lillies. Look at the beautiful flowers around you. Really look at them, enjoy them. Let them enhance your day.

Use them to appreciate their maker and yours and to give Him praise.