Daily Provision
What will we do with this feeling of defiance? We can add sobriety to our decision-making by answering the question: “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” The obvious answer is that none of us can. The truth is, when we do “take thought” for the things of this world, we are doing for ourselves what our God wants to do for us.
Q 3. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Matthew 6:27, Luke 12:24-38 (Combined) 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 more than raiment? Behold the ravens and fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Without a doubt, to carry out the advice in this passage is difficult. If you are like me, you feel a sense of disobedience as you read these words. I want to live in that elusive place of love and plentitude and pick the fruit of God’s providence as I stroll through this life without a care, yet, in defiance of YHVH’s command, I fall dreadfully short of my desire.
What will we do with this feeling of defiance? We can add sobriety to our decision-making by answering the question: “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” The obvious answer is that none of us can. The truth is, when we do “take thought” for the things of this world, we are doing for ourselves what our God wants to do for us.
It is His desire to be in daily communion with His children. Since the beginning, when He walked with Adam in the cool of the day, He has missed this fellowship with man. Listen, as He speaks in Isaiah 1:2-3, “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.” The owner and crib are symbols of care and feeding, the very things of which we are admonished to beware not to become the agents of acquisition.
Notice that this particular Scripture is not speaking of preparation for disaster or disease or mayhem, it is speaking only of the daily things – those things that demand our attention three times a day. Three times a day we could be reminded to commune with God and three times a day we could thank Him truly for the food provided. Unfortunately however, because we provide our own food, our “thanks” or “blessing” said at mealtime has become a hollow act of ritual if compared to one that we would offer over food known to be provided by God alone. We can almost hear in the song of the birds every morning, “Give us day by day our daily bread” and “Thank you” as they find and gather for themselves and their young.
We must live in God’s pleasure to be able to have this kind of confidence in His provision. Most of us provide our own food as surely as we guide our own lives. We know within ourselves that God’s provision comes to us as we are submissive to Him as our Lord provider, and we rightfully link the action of our submission to His supply. We know that we must strive to be in His pleasure to enjoy His provision. This is borne upon other Scripture that immediately follows the one we are examining now. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Beware Of Ambition
We have a streak of God-like ambition in us that must be curbed. This desire to “increase our stature” by taking thought, by taking our life into our own hands, is a most dangerous one. It can only lead to self-exaltation no matter how much we pretend to dress it up in humble clothes and insist that we “thank God” for our self-gotten increase.
Your exaltation or advancement (if you are to have any at all) or your debasement must occur only by God’s divine providence. This is the only way you may be assured that you are not out-running your guide, or taking a seat higher than you deserve. This point is clear in the parable from Luke 14:8-11, “When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Jesus would ask again, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”
Some have translated this Scripture to read, “Who, by taking thought, can add one hour to his life span?” If this translation were true, we would have, in our century, an opportunity to challenge this Scripture. (Or do we?[1])
Some claim to be alive and well only because a doctor, somewhere in their past intervened with the natural progression of death. Doctors today are praised for adding, not only an hour, but possibly years to their life span. Some will credit their health and years to a regimen of exercise and vitamin supplements.
Unfortunately, the years added are, in most cases, lived out in nursing homes, attached to machines, or with umbilicals of drugs, hospitals, and doctors, all parasitically draining their savings from them, along with the quality of their lives, till both are gone. The effort of immortality is a futile one. The sober consideration of this proposition as an impossibility is to be our impetus to accept the futility of trying to take thought in order to advance our lives as well. We must not push, we must not strive, and we must be content.
So how do we accomplish this idea of living for now, with no care for the inevitable needs of our future? It is clear in this advice, “… seek ye first the kingdom of God… and all these things shall be added unto you.” Relax your hand on the wheel that steers your life. Hold the course He set for you. As you find yourself making your own provisions, let go. Make an opportunity for life to take another course. When you set your mind on gaining something, relax your effort and risk losing it. Let it come from another source, or let it not come at all.
Do we really want to live an hour longer than God’s plan provides? Do you really want an inch more stature than He sees fit for you? How much of what you have now was gained only as a result of your efforts and not His?
Remember, the saying, “The Lord helps those who help themselves” is not Scripture, nor can the idea be supported by Scripture. Little by little you can let go of your way and fasten to His way. How fast you go should be none of your concern. If you are moving at all, no matter how little, you need only make sure of your direction. For, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”
Although, contrary to the explanation offered about increasing man’s life span, statistics indicate the apparent increase is due mostly to the improvements in birth viability and not length of years.
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