Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height?And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit unto the measure of his life?
5 sermons cite this verse
… than they and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to a span of life and why are you anxious about clothing Consider the lilies of the field, the flowers, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? Therefore don't be anxious, don't be worried, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Look at the birds and flowers. when we were up in Sedona there was this state park we found and we go into the state park and they have this little theater in their visitor center there was supposed to be an introduction to the state park so we thought this is cool, give some history and see some of those grand pictures well we got in there and the video was not an introduction to the state park the video was a monologue on hummingbirds in the state park and it was the driest, most boring video. …
… Aren't you? And which of you by being anxious can add a single step to the journey of his life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow They neither toil nor spin thread Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he not clothe you, O you of little faith? And so do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? because the nations seek after all these things and your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom, the rule and reign of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So do not be anxious about tomorrow because tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. …
… They do not sow. They do not reap. They have no storeroom. They have no barn. Yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds? Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how wild the flowers grow. They do not labor. They do not spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all of his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow's thrown in the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? Watch the last verses, verse 33 and 34. Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt. A bank in heaven far from bank robbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank that you can bank on. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be and end up being. Write down the last point today, your heart follows your money. I love this thought. Your heart is going to follow your money. Jesus says, wherever your treasure is, your heart will follow also. He says, why are you worried about what you're going to eat? Why are you worried about what you're going to wear? Why are you worried about tomorrow? Tomorrow has enough worries in itself. No, no, no. Don't worry about that stuff. …
… on the streets of Jerusalem, who says, which one of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? What do you want for me to do for you? Who do you say that I am? Why are you troubled? Do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? How often Jesus asks piercing questions. I saw one source from the Navigators said, he asks 300 questions in the Gospels, and he receives 180 questions. Jesus is the quintessential question asker, and they are not bad questions. They are wise, perceptive, informed, heart-exposing questions. So brothers, let's be more like Jesus in asking good questions, in listening well, and in so doing, you are gaining priceless context for exercising wisdom in the pastoral challenges at hand. One of the reasons you feel so stuck might be that you don't know enough yet about the situation because you haven't asked good questions. …
… And it just keeps going. And this is how many of us think at times. You are anxious about your anxiety. So, the Bible says, on the one hand, do not worry. Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. That's what Jesus says. Isn't that true? Probably said this before, you know, this quip, you never get to the end and there's a dire diagnosis and the doctor comes in and it's a very somber mood and the doctor says, well, all we can do now is worry. That's never the cure. That's never the remedy. No, you can't add a single hour to your life by this worry. But you have them. Peter recognizes this. It doesn't say if you're truly humble, you never feel any anxiety. It says when you're truly humble, you cast them. You have them and you deal with them. Listen, it is not a failure that you might ever feel fear or nervousness, let alone sadness or dis-ease about the future. The question is, what are you going to do with that? Because that's when it can become sinful. …