But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:33-34)

These words are taken from Jesus’ famous ‘sermon on the mount’, and they come at the end of some teaching concerning anxiety. In keeping with the teachings of Jesus- he does not simply summon us to ditch anxiety but he calls us to put something else in its place. What is that something else? The something else in this case is the pursuing of God’s kingdom and his righteousness. What does this mean? Well simply this- Jesus is calling us to live for God’s kingdom, receive the free gift of God’s righteousness and not be anxious. Perhaps easier said than done and yet helpful. So many people are crippled and stifled by anxiety of every kind.

Jesus does not stop there though- he goes onto summon us his followers to not worry about tomorrow but to let it worry about itself. What does he mean by this? I think he is saying rather forcefully that worry is always to be deferred. The day of worry is never to come, because tomorrow doesn’t ever arrive. Yes but how- well Jesus calls us to live our lives one day at a time. Worry and anxiety usually come when we project ourselves into the future. We are rarely anxious for today; it is the future that bothers us. So says Jesus restricts your concerns to today and you can defeat anxiety.

Grace and peace from Marcus (Philippians 4:6-7)