God does provide for His children. Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26).
God’s care
Jesus gave three illustrations about the truth that God, the Creator of life, offers His children the things that they need to sustain life, and that man, therefore, need not worry about having them. These three illustrations are about the birds (Matthew 6:26), human growth (Matthew 6:27), and wildflowers (Matthew 6:28).
In the illustration of the birds of the air, the Lord showed how He blesses His children with what they need. And if He provides so generously for birds of the air, will He not have even greater care for the happiness and well-being of His children that are made on His own image, those whom He has redeemed by the blood of His only begotten Son? The answer is certainly, yes. Therefore, man doesn’t have to be anxious about having His needs met (Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Peter 5:7).
Jesus affirmed, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25; Luke 12:22b-23). The man whose main goal is to secure food and clothing has missed the most important purpose in life – choosing God (Mark 2:27).
Diligent work
But God’s care doesn’t negate man’s need for work. In the parable of the birds, all what the birds need to do is go about foraging for their food. In doing so, they work diligently to find their own food. In like manner, our heavenly Father expects humans to work hard to find their livelihood. “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense” (Proverbs 12:11 also Colossians 3:23).
Therefore, the lesson we learn here is that our God has made life to overflow with resources and opportunities for blessings (Job 38:41; Psalms 145:15, 16; 147:9). But as the birds of the air must look for it and find it, humans too must seize the opportunities of life and work diligently to have their needs met. Then, the Lord will certainly bless their efforts with success (Proverbs 12:24; 16:3).
Some think that they can gain their livelihood by some fast-easy schemes of enterprise without diligent work. And they attempt to gain their livelihood through unlawful ways that unfortunately lead them to crime, violence and law breaking (Proverbs 6:10-12). These ones need to learn from the birds of the air to be diligent in order to prosper.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
