And when the days of her purification, ac- cording to the Law of Mofes, were ac- DISCOURSE I. THE DUTY OF TAKING NO THOUGHT MATTHEW VI. 34. Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itJelf; fufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. WH I. HAT? Take no thought, no DISC. thought at all for the morrow? Attend only to the day that is paffing over us, and make no provifion for the future? Are we not to look forward; to fuppofe a continuation of life, and a want of the means which are neceffary to fupport it? Should we fit ftill, with our arms folded,, and expect that Providence will supply us with those means, without ufing our own endea VOL. III. B I. DISC. endeavours? Is not the hufbandman, when he has reaped one harvest, to fow his feed for another? Most undoubtedly he is. The Scriptures fuppofe all men to have fome occupation, and to be labouring in it, that the state of the world may be upholden. They tell us, in the Old Teftament, that "the hand of the diligent maketh rich;" and in the New, that "if any man will not work, neither fhould he eat." In the former, man is fent to learn wisdom of " the "ant, which provideth her meat in the fummer, and gathereth her food in the harvest," with a view to the approaching winter; in the latter we read, that "the parents fhould lay up for the children." In a word, no one thing is more severely condemned and expofed, than the folly of the fluggard, who has the prefumption to tempt God, by imagining, that all the bleffings of heaven will defcend on the head of idlenefs, and that meat will drop into his mouth, if he does but condefcend to open it,-How are these very different directions to be reconciled? A The I. The truth is, that the Greek word, here DISC. rendered take no thought, fignifies properly, be not anxious, folicitous, miferable, about to morrow; literally and ftrictly, be not of a doubtful, divided mind. For all care fupposes a person to be wavering, drawn hither and thither by different motives, first one way and then another, not knowing how to fix and determine; fince, when this is once firmly and finally done, the trouble ceases, and the man is at eafe. Before that, the mind is diftracted, that is, drawn diverse ways at the fame time, like the body of a criminal, in fome countries, torn in pieces by horfes pulling in oppofition to each other. They who have felt the torment of such a ftate of mind know what I mean, and what is fo beautifully expreffed by the original word in this place of Scripture, which thus kindly commands us not to make ourselves wretched by anxious carings and apprehenfions about the future; but, in all cafes of difficulty, to perform diligently that part which appears wifeft and beft for us to perform; then to refign the matter into the B 2 hands I. DISC. hands of God; quietly and patiently waiting the event, before it comes, and humbly acquiefcing in it, when it does come. In fhort, fo to use our endeavours, as if they were to effect every thing; fo to trust in God, as if they were to effect nothing. But let us not be too hafty in blaming our worthy tranflators. They could not have been ignorant, any more than we are, that it was impoffible for Christ to give such a precept as at firft fight this appears now to be. But they wrote above 150 years ago; and there is good reafon for fuppofing, that the expreffion to take thought, did at that time generally denote the very thing, which, as has been shewn you, the Greek word most certainly means, viz. to take anxious thought, or to be anxiously careful, to be uneasy. In this sense, which is the only true sense, "take no thought for the morrow," is excellent advice; and advice which is much needed. All things are full of labour. Walk |
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