Evils of Anxious Forethought
Beecher. Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body… 1. From the intrinsic superiority of the spirit or the soul to its material surroundings. 2. It is needless, as all men stand in an order of nature that they are sure to be supplied by a moderate exertion of their powers. A man ought to be ashamed if a bird can get a living and he cannot. 3. Anxiety does no good. The mind works more wisely when it works pleasantly. Anxiety distorts the future. 4. It brings men under the power of the imagination and phantoms, which they fight without pause, and upon which they spend their strength for nothing. 5. If a man is constantly looking to the future in despondency, where is faith in his God? (Beecher.) Parallel Verses KJV: Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? WEB: Therefore, I tell you, don't be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothing?