I am convinced we are a nation of worry warts. Everywhere you turn somebody is worried about something. We are so stressed out by our anxieties that whole industries have been developed to help manage our stress and deal with our worries. It doesn't matter who you are, everyone seems to worry.
As preoccupied with worry as our culture is today, its not a new problem. Human beings have always had a tendency to worry. Our unique ability to think about the future, to dream and plan, to visualize that which lies before us, is a wonderful gift. But its downside is that we can also imagine the worst. And out of our ability to conceptualize future mishaps and disasters, grow our worries.
Jesus knew this. Jesus knew what it meant to worry. And he also know how debilitating it could be. In a lot of stress management courses and books today, one reads or hears about prioritizing. But Jesus knew it all along. If you want to minimize worry in your life, the first thing you must do, he said, is get your priorities straight. And your first priority must be what Jesus calls, "striving for the kingdom of God." In other words we must put God's way of love and concern for others first in our lives. Our first concern should be seeking to live as God would have us live.. Love God, love neighbor. It won't eliminate all our problems, but it will minimize our worries.
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