And *ye*, seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, and be not in anxiety;
The Lord has just pointed His disciples to the ravens and the lilies. Now He turns that lesson into a command about what they must not chase, and He gives one reason: they have a Father.
Translators have handled the words "nor be worried" in different ways. One writer lists them:
"Be not in anxiety" (μετεωρίζεσθαι). The Vulgate has "be not lifted up." Weiss explains it as, "do not go to extremes in your demands."… The joint writers Darby-Smith here follow the English Protestant version: "to be unsettled in mind" (as meteors).
The last rendering points at the mind itself: unsettled, never at rest. Another writer adds that this suspense changes nothing:
As to our necessary food and drink for even the immediate future, there is no reason to be in anxious suspense, though we may not see where the provision may come from. In fact, whether our need is met or not, the anxiety will be of no help, though worry is characteristic of the world.
The command marks off the disciples from everyone else. One writer lays the two groups side by side:
Two classes here stand in striking contrast: "the nations of the world," and "the little flock." The things they pursue stand in just as striking a contrast. "These things" — food, clothing, earthly things — and "the kingdom of God." "The nations of the world" are the unconverted, those who do not know God. Their hopes and desires reach no further than the things of the world and of the present time. "The little flock" are those who can call God their Father, and He must be supreme with them.
Notice which name for God the Lord uses with each audience:
Speaking of the ravens, and of the lilies, the Lord spoke of God. God feeds. God clothes. He is only in the relation of Creator to them. But speaking to the disciples, He spoke of God as their Father. They were not only creatures of God, but children of God. Now, if God cares for His creatures, living and non-living, will He not provide for those who stand to Him in the double relation of creatures and children?… The nations of the world went after these things. They had to fend for themselves, and lived as if everything depended on their own resources.
Worry looks small. One writer calls it more than a weakness:
This is the universal snare, and the vast majority of Christians — yes, even Christians — have fallen into it. What we will eat and drink, and what we will wear, is the absorbing pursuit, the overwhelming and soul-destroying question. Meanwhile we neglect and ignore the BREAD OF GOD, the food that lasts. It is the weakness of our flesh, but it often becomes the sin of our souls. It drags us down in our living to the level of the nations of the world who do not know God, and makes us distrustful of His loving-kindness towards us.
The answer to want is not a smaller want. It is a Father whose heart is touched by it:
If we did but live in the sense of that! "I am in want," you say; well, the Father knows. There is not a single thing that can affect one of His people that does not affect the heart of God. A sentence which I read many years ago, and which has never left me is this: "Whatever might be a care to you produces a care for you in the heart of God."
This verse says what not to chase. The next one gives something to chase instead:
The instruction given before was mainly negative. It gave reasons to avoid the ways and aims of the nations, because they trusted their Father's care. Now the instruction turns positive: "But seek His kingdom; and these things shall be added to you."… They were to desire and pursue what God Himself was about to bring in, the thing that shows His power in contrast with man's weakness… If we seek His things, He does not forget ours.
- Unsettled — the warning is against a mind held in suspense. Worry adds nothing to the table; it only copies the world.
- Uncovered — people without God fend for themselves and lean on their own resources. The disciples were not to live that way.
- Father — to ravens and lilies He is only Creator. To disciples He is Father. Creatures who are also children have double reason to trust Him.
- Known — the cure is not a smaller need. The Father already knows it, and what is a care to you becomes a care for you in His heart.
- Kingdom — fill the emptied mind with a better pursuit. Seek His things, and He will not forget yours.
for all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that ye have need of these things;
Jesus has just pointed His disciples to ravens that never store food and lilies that outshine Solomon. Now He gives two reasons to stop worrying: what the world runs after, and what their Father knows. One crowd has no Father to trust. The other does.
The verse holds a warning and a comfort side by side.
Here the Lord urges two considerations which we do well to heed. One is to guard us against sharing the unbelief of those who do not even know God. How compromising to share the thoughts and feelings of the Gentiles! "For all the nations of the world seek after these things." The other is to assure the doubting heart. "And your Father knows that you need them."
This may sound like a word only for people who do not know where the next meal comes from. It is not.
The poor of this world are burdened and distressed on both counts in their daily and home life. But the noblest and the richest spend much time and thought on their food and their clothes. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life bring their own torments among the highest. And if, as things are, most Christians are too much like everyone else, that only confirms the wisdom and goodness of the Lord. He was willing to say so much in order to lift the motives of His own, and to shape their ways according to the mind of God.
The phrase describes people by what they lack and by how far their horizon reaches.
Two classes stand here in striking contrast: "the nations of the world" and "the little flock." The things they pursue are just as opposite. "These things" — food, clothing, earthly things — and "the kingdom of God." "The nations of the world" are the unconverted, those who do not know God. Their hopes and desires reach no further than the things of the world and the present time. "The little flock" are those who can call God their Father, and He must be supreme with them; their faith and hope are in Him.
Notice which name for God the Lord uses, and where.
We do well to notice the change of language here, for it is instructive. Speaking of the ravens and the lilies, the Lord spoke of God. God feeds. God clothes. He is only in the relation of Creator to them. But speaking to the disciples, He spoke of God as their Father. They were not only creatures of God, but children of God. God cares for His creatures, living and lifeless. Will He not provide for those who stand to Him as both creatures and children? ... The nations of the world sought these things as people who had to fend for themselves. They lived as if they had only their own resources.
His knowing is not distant information.
If only we lived in the sense of that! "I am in need," you say; well, the Father knows. There is not a single thing that can affect one of His people that does not affect the heart of God. Years ago I read a sentence that has never left me: "Whatever might be a care to you produces a care for you in the heart of God." And so it does. Do we not read in the letter of Peter, "casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you"? "Your Father knows that you need these things." He watches over us down to the smallest things that might trouble us.
The cure Jesus prescribes in the next verse is not doing nothing; it is a change of aim.
More than this, if we seek first the kingdom of God (v.31), He will take care of all the details of our needs. To seek that kingdom is to take the place of honest subjection to His authority. When we are subject to His authority, we shall have the fullest confidence. Such confidence encourages the self-discipline that delights to obey Him. Certainly, if we do delight to obey Him, we shall not be lazy or forget our responsibility to work in subjection to Him. We shall trust Him instead of worrying.
- Two crowds. The world chases food and clothing because it has no Father to trust. Believers are called to look different at just this point.
- Two relationships. Ravens and lilies have a Creator; disciples have a Father. They are creatures and children, so the greater care is certain.
- Two directions of care. Whatever is a care to you becomes a care for you in the heart of God, down to the smallest thing that troubles you.
- Two temptations. The poor are worn down by having too little. The rich spend themselves on food and display. The Lord's word lifts the motives of both.
- Two responses. Not laziness and not anxiety, but seeking His kingdom and trusting Him to add the rest.