Art Toombs Ministries 

Online Bible Commentary

Matthew 6:31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV)

The age old question presents itself. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Of course, the answer is…the chicken. The egg would never exist without the chicken producing it. At the creation God did not create eggs, He created animals.

Now comes the question of which comes first, meeting our needs or meeting with God? Some would say if we did not worry, our needs would not be met.

Jesus says the opposite, if we do not worry, our needs will be met. Jesus does not want us to worry. Instead he wants us to exchange the non productive time spent on worry for productive time spent with Him.

In this passage, Jesus is saying that we should “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” In other words, we should put God first. We should start our day spending time with God, through prayer and Bible reading or devotionals such as this. And, He is saying much more than that.

He is also saying that God should always be first in our lives. Our relationship with God should define us, and worry should not. He is saying that “Pagans run after all these things.” As Christians, we should pursue a relationship with God and not a relationship with the things of this world. When we do that, God will give us the things that we need. He promises to meet our needs when we put Him first in our lives.

So, you see, there is no need to worry. God knows what we need and has promised to provide for us. All we need to worry about is putting God first in our lives.

The secret here is that when we put God first we start to think like Him. When we think like God, He changes our needs. So, you see, He’s got it all under control. We just need to cooperate with Him.