Luk 12:25-26 | KingComments | STEP | The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples. With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised ( ), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God. The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body. He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven ( )? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants ( ). Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. ). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life. The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort. In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace. If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.

‏ Luke 12:25-26

Worries

The man who asked the Lord to judge in a case of dividing an inheritance is silent. The Lord has not yet finished speaking. He adds to the parable of the rich fool a penetrating warning or, perhaps better, a great encouragement for His disciples.

With the words “for this reason” He clearly connects to the parable. Whoever is rich in God does not have to worry about earthly things. Life and the body are earthly realities that need maintenance and care, but they need not be objects of excessive care. Disciples are under God’s constant care. Someone to whom the kingdom is promised (Lk 12:32), which means whoever is truly rich in God, need not be greedy or even worried. Our degree of worry depends on the degree of our faith in God.

The Lord gives some examples that they can see in nature. Let them watch the birds in the air and the flowers in the field. The example of the ravens contains a disapproval to be concerned about our food. The lilies say the same with regard to our clothes. As a reason for not being worried, the Lord gives that it is not food and clothing that are the most important things of human existence, but his life and his body.

He points His disciples to the ravens. Do they not notice that God’s condescending care extends even to unclean birds like a raven (Psa 147:9)? These birds do not have the habit, like the rich fool, of sowing and reaping and of creating storerooms or barns for the harvest. God feeds them, He makes sure they get food from the large garden of His creation. He prepares it for them. Those birds have to search for it themselves, they have to work to get it. The fact is that God has prepared it for them and that they don’t have to do anything about it on that side. Once they have found it, God can even use them to feed His servants (1Kgs 17:6).

Would God care less for His children than for the birds? In addition, being worried does not add anything to his height or his life’s span (cf. Psa 39:5). There is therefore no point in worrying because that simply does not help in any way to improve the quality or quantity of life.

The Lord calls adding to the life’s span “a very little thing“ a man can do and says that he is not even capable of doing so. This is because man’s life is completely in God’s hand. He determines the size, the length, of it. That is why people should not worry about the rest either, because it is useless effort.

In questions and worries about food supply, the Lord has said that His disciples should pay attention to how the ravens get their food. Then they see how these birds always get their food from God without taking any care. That they don’t have to worry about their clothes either, they can learn from the lilies. With what great beauty God has clothed these flowers. Even Solomon could not match that in all his glory. And what material value do lilies have? They are like grass. Today it is still on the field, but tomorrow it will be used as fuel for the furnace.

If God cares so much for what has such a short existence, will He not care much more for His children? The Lord addresses His disciples at this point as “men of little faith”. This is significant. He knows us through and through and knows how much we worry about our clothes. For us, this is not even about the necessary covering against the cold, but much more about what we look like, whether it looks nice. Not that what we look like, may not play a role, but the wardrobes show that we are afraid that we do not have something suitable for every occasion.