Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

When Jesus posed this rhetorical question in His Sermon on the Mount, He made it clear that anxiety is neither beneficial nor purposeful. It is a universal problem that we all need to solve. Thankfully, He gives us some keys to consider.

He said, “…do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear’?...” (Matthew 6:31).

Notice the words ‘saying’ and ‘shall’. Anxiety is made worse both by what we say and also by where we focus. A poor confession only adds to our problems, and an inappropriate focus on the future can harm our present.

Each day has its own concerns and its own grace, but anxiety places our thinking in the future without the benefits of today’s grace. No wonder it is so debilitating.

So, since we can’t add an hour to our life by worrying about the future, why don’t we use the hour we have right now to seek Him, and trust Him with our future?

As an ancient sundial inscription stated, “…One hour alone is in your hands, the now on which the shadow stands…”

Are we going to use that hour effectively or waste it on something which is neither beneficial nor purposeful?

Robert