October 7 | Bible in a Year: Isaiah 28–29; Philippians 3

Birds of the Air

Do not worry about your life. Matthew 6:25

Matthew 6:25

READ Matthew 6:25–33

The summer sun was rising and my smiling neighbour, seeing me in my front garden, whispered for me to come look. “What?” I whispered back, intrigued. She pointed to a wind chime on her front porch, where a tiny teacup of straw rested atop a metal rung. “A hummingbird’s nest,” she whispered. “See the babies?” The two beaks, tiny as pinpricks, were barely visible as they pointed upward. “They’re waiting for the mother.” We stood there, marvelling. I raised my phone to snap a picture. “Not too close,” my neighbour said. “Don’t want to scare away the mother.” And with that, we adopted—from afar—a family of hummingbirds.

But not for long. In another week, mother bird and babies were gone—as quietly as they had arrived. But who would care for them?

The Bible gives a glorious but familiar answer. It’s so familiar that we may forget all that it promises: “Do not worry about your life,” said Jesus (Matthew 6:25). A simple but beautiful instruction. “Look at the birds of the air,” He added. “They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (v. 26).

Just as God cares for tiny birds, He cares for us—nurturing us in mind, body, soul and spirit. It’s a magnificent promise. May we look to Him daily—without worry—and soar.

By Patricia Raybon

What’s the difference between worry and planning—or worry and concern? As you look at your life, how is God daily providing?

Loving God, it’s humbling to know that You care for the needs of my life. Please help me to honour Your promise to provide by trusting You more each day.

Read Your Heavenly Father Knows at odb.org to think more about how to prayerfully manage worry.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

In Matthew 6:25–33, Jesus used a principle for logic and interpretation sometimes called qal wahomer, Hebrew for “light and heavy.” Qal wahomer was one of the principles recorded by the revered Jewish teacher Hillel (who lived 110 BC–AD 10). The principle argues that if something is true for something less important (“light”), it’s also true for something more important (“heavy”).

Jesus used this principle to emphasise that if God cares for the birds, how much more must He care for His beloved children (v. 26). And if God “clothes” fields with breath-taking beauty, how much more must God care about clothing His children (v. 30). This principle strengthens Jesus’ emphasis on exchanging worry for trust (vv. 25–34). When we trust God, we can exchange our preoccupation on what’s less important for a devotion to what’s most important: His “kingdom and his righteousness” ( v. 33).