Luke 12:25
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Who of you
This phrase invites personal reflection and introspection. In the original Greek, "τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν" (tis ex hymōn) directly addresses the audience, making the question personal and immediate. It challenges each listener to consider their own life and actions. Historically, Jesus often used questions to provoke thought and self-examination among His followers, encouraging them to look inward and assess their faith and trust in God.

by worrying
The Greek word used here is "μεριμνῶν" (merimnōn), which conveys the idea of being anxious or overly concerned. In the cultural context of the time, life was fraught with uncertainties, much like today. Jesus addresses the common human tendency to worry about the future, emphasizing that such anxiety is ultimately unproductive. From a scriptural standpoint, this aligns with other biblical teachings that encourage believers to cast their cares upon God (1 Peter 5:7) and trust in His provision.

can add
The verb "δύναται" (dynatai) implies capability or power. Jesus is pointing out the futility of worry by highlighting that it lacks the power to effect change. This serves as a reminder of human limitations and the sovereignty of God. In a broader biblical context, it underscores the belief that true power and control over life belong to God alone, and not to human efforts or anxieties.

a single hour
The phrase "ἡλικίαν μίαν πῆχυν" (hēlikian mian pēchyn) is often translated as "a single cubit to his stature" in other versions, but here it is rendered as "a single hour to his lifespan." This reflects the idea of adding a small, measurable amount to one's life. The use of "hour" emphasizes the preciousness and brevity of time, reminding believers that life is fleeting and should be entrusted to God's care rather than consumed by worry.

to his lifespan
The term "ζωῇ" (zōē) refers to life in its fullest sense, encompassing both physical existence and spiritual vitality. In the biblical narrative, life is a gift from God, and its duration is determined by Him. This phrase reinforces the teaching that human efforts, such as worrying, cannot alter God's divine plan for our lives. It encourages believers to focus on living faithfully and trusting in God's timing and purpose.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this verse, Jesus is teaching His disciples and the crowd about the futility of worry and the importance of trusting in God's provision.

2. The Disciples
The primary audience of Jesus' teaching, they are learning about faith and reliance on God.

3. The Crowd
A larger group of people who are also listening to Jesus' teachings, representing a broader audience beyond the immediate circle of disciples.
Teaching Points
The Futility of Worry
Worrying does not change our circumstances or extend our lives. It is an unproductive use of our time and energy.

Trust in God's Sovereignty
Recognize that God is in control of our lives, including the length of our days. Trusting in His plan brings peace.

Focus on the Present
Jesus encourages us to live in the present, focusing on today's challenges rather than being consumed by future uncertainties.

Prayer as a Response to Anxiety
Instead of worrying, turn to prayer. Present your concerns to God, who cares for you and is able to provide.

Seek First the Kingdom
Prioritize God's kingdom and righteousness, trusting that He will take care of your needs as you align your life with His purposes.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the futility of worry change your perspective on daily challenges?

2. In what ways can you actively practice trusting in God's sovereignty over your life?

3. How can you incorporate prayer into your routine as a response to anxiety or worry?

4. What are some practical steps you can take to focus more on the present rather than being consumed by future concerns?

5. How does seeking first the kingdom of God influence your priorities and decision-making?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 6:27
This parallel passage in Matthew's Gospel echoes the same teaching about the futility of worry, emphasizing the consistency of Jesus' message across different accounts.

Philippians 4:6-7
Paul instructs believers not to be anxious but to present their requests to God, promising peace that transcends understanding.

Psalm 39:4-5
The psalmist reflects on the brevity of life, reminding us of our limited control over our lifespan.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Encourages trust in the Lord rather than relying on our own understanding, aligning with Jesus' teaching on dependence on God.
A Lesson from the BirdsLuke 12:22-28
Both Body and Soul LostSpencer.Luke 12:22-28
Do not Borrow TroubleAlliance NewsLuke 12:22-28
God is the Universal ProviderM. F. Sadler.Luke 12:22-28
LimitationsJ. Parker, D. D.Luke 12:22-28
Reasons for Banishing Vexatious CareW. Burkitt.Luke 12:22-28
The Body of Less Importance than the SoulRay.Luke 12:22-28
The Folly of Caring More for the Body than the SoulT. Adams.Luke 12:22-28
The Soul ForemostT. Adams.Luke 12:22-28
The Spirit of ContentAddison.Luke 12:22-28
Vanity in DressLuke 12:22-28
Anxiety or Trustfulness?W. Clarkson Luke 12:22-30
Lessons from the Fowls and LiliesR.M. Edgar Luke 12:22-40
People
Jesus, Peter, Solomon
Places
Road to Jerusalem
Topics
Able, Add, Age, Anxious, Careful, Cubit, Height, Hour, Life's, Measure, Moment, Single, Solicitude, Span, Stature, Taking, Taller, Worrying
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 12:25

     4948   hour
     5204   age
     6203   mortality
     8849   worry

Luke 12:15-31

     5967   thrift

Luke 12:16-31

     5503   rich, the

Luke 12:22-25

     5067   suicide

Luke 12:22-30

     5136   body
     7115   children of God

Luke 12:22-31

     1330   God, the provider
     5766   attitudes, to life

Luke 12:23-25

     8779   materialism, nature of

Luke 12:23-27

     2363   Christ, preaching and teaching

Luke 12:24-27

     8662   meditation

Luke 12:24-28

     8472   respect, for environment

Luke 12:25-27

     5582   tiredness

Library
October 23 Morning
A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.--LUKE 12:15. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.--Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.--Godliness with contentment is great gain. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor,
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 29 Morning
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.--MATT. 25:34. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.--Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?--Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 26 Morning
The kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods . . . to every man according to his several ability.--MATT. 25:14,15. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey? All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.--As every man hath received the gift,
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 14. "But God" (Luke xii. 20).
"But God" (Luke xii. 20). What else do we really need? What else is He trying to make us understand? The religion of the Bible is wholly supernatural. The one resource of faith has always been the living God, and Him alone. The children of Israel were utterly dependent upon Jehovah as they marched through the wilderness, and the one reason their foes feared them and hastened to submit themselves was that they recognized among them the shout of a King, and the presence of One compared with whom all
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Stillness in Storm
'... Neither be ye of doubtful mind.'--LUKE xii. 29. I think that these words convey no very definite idea to most readers. The thing forbidden is not very sharply defined by the expression which our translators have employed, but the original term is very picturesque and precise. The word originally means 'to be elevated, to be raised as a meteor,' and comes by degrees to mean to be raised in one special way--namely, as a boat is tossed by a tough sea. So there is a picture in this prohibition which
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Servant-Lord
Verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth, and serve them.--LUKE xii. 37. No one would have dared to say that except Jesus Christ. For surely, manifold and wonderful as are the glimpses that we get in the New Testament of the relation of perfect souls in heaven to Him, none of them pierces deeper, rises higher, and speaks more boundless blessing, than such words as these. Well might Christ think it necessary to preface them with the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Fire on Earth
'I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled!'--LUKE xii. 49. We have here one of the rare glimpses which our Lord gives us into His inmost heart, His thought of His mission, and His feelings about it. If familiarity had not weakened the impression, and dulled the edge, of these words, how startling they would seem to us! 'I am come'--then, He was, before He came, and He came by His own voluntary act. A Jewish peasant says that He is going to set the world on fire-and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Rich Fool
'And one of the company said unto Him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14. And He said unto him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? 15. And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16. And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Anxious About Earth, or Earnest About the Kingdom
'And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25. And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? 26. If ye then be not able to do that thing
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Equipment of the Servants
'Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord.'--Luke xii. 35, 36. These words ought to stir us like the sound of a trumpet. But, by long familiarity, they drop upon dull ears, and scarcely produce any effect. The picture that they suggest, as an emblem of the Christian state, is a striking one. It is midnight, a great house is without its master, the lord of the palace is absent, but expected back, the servants are busy in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Servants and Stewards Here and Hereafter
'Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching: Verily I shall say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing. 44. Of a truth I say unto you, that He will make him ruler over all that he hath. --LUKE xii. 37, 43, and 44. You will, of course, observe that these two passages are strictly parallel in form. Our Lord evidently intends
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

October the Nineteenth Ready!
"Let your loins be girded about." --LUKE xii. 35-40. Loose garments can be very troublesome. An Oriental robe, if left ungirdled, entangles the feet, or is caught by the wind and hinders one's goings. And therefore the wearer binds the loose attire together with a girdle, and makes it firm and compact about his body. And loose principles can be more dangerous than loose garments. Indefinite opinions, caught by the passing wind of popular caprice, are both a peril and a burden. Many people go through
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

True Harvest Joy.
TEXT: LUKE xii. 16-21. TO-DAY the harvest thanksgiving is celebrated through out the land, and it is most fitting that it should be with all of us a day of great and joyful giving of thanks. Although there are but few among the masses of people crowded together in this as in other great cities, who have any direct share in this great business of agriculture, yet we are all aware that it is the prime source of our common prosperity; indeed, I may say, the first condition of the development of our
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 15, "And He Said unto Them, Take Heed, and Keep Yourselves from all Covetousness. "
1. I doubt not but that ye who fear God, do hear His word with awe, and execute it with cheerfulness; that what He hath promised, ye may at present hope for, hereafter receive. We have just now heard the Lord Christ Jesus, the Son of God, giving us a precept. The Truth, who neither deceiveth, nor is deceived, hath given us a precept; let us hear, fear, beware. What is this precept then: "I say unto you, Beware of all covetousness"? [3392] What is, "of all covetousness"? What is, "of all"? Why did
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 35, "Let Your Loins be Girded About, and Your Lamps Burning; and be Ye Yourselves Like," Etc. And
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ both came to men, and went away from men, and is to come to men. And yet He was here when He came, nor did He depart when He went away, and He is to come to them to whom He said, "Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world." [3417] According to the "form of a servant" then, which He took for our sakes, was He born at a certain time, and was slain, and rose again, and now "dieth no more, neither shall death have any more dominion over Him;" [3418] but according to His
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke xii. 56, 58, "Ye Know How to Interpret the Face of the Earth and the Heaven," Etc. ; and Of
1. We have heard the Gospel, and in it the Lord reproving those who knew how to discern the face of the sky, and know not how to discover the time of faith, the kingdom of heaven which is at hand. Now this He said to the Jews; but His words reach even unto us. Now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself began the preaching of His Gospel in this way; "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." [3431] In like manner too John the Baptist and His forerunner began thus; "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On Worldly Folly
"But God said unto him, Thou fool!" Luke 12:20. But one of these fools is commonly wiser in his own eyes "than seven men that can render a reason." If it were possible for a Christian, for one that has the mind which was in Christ, to despise any one, he would cordially despise those who suppose "they are the men, and wisdom shall die with them." You may see one of these, painted to the life, in the verses preceding the text. "The ground of a certain rich man," says our blessed Lord, "brought forth
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

On Divine Providence
"Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Luke 12:7. 1. The doctrine of divine providence has been received by wise men in all ages. It was believed by many of the eminent Heathens, not only philosophers, but orators and poets. Innumerable are the testimonies concerning it which are scattered up and down in their writings; agreeable to that well-knowing saying in Cicero, Deorum moderamine cuncta geri: "That all things, all events in this world, are under the management of God." We might
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Use of Fear in Religion.
PROVERBS ix. 10.--"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Luke xii. 4, 5.--"And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." The place which the feeling of fear ought to hold in the religious experience of mankind is variously assigned. Theories of religion are continually passing
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

Darkness Before the Dawn
"Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether."--SONG OF SOLOMON 2:17. THE SPOUSE SINGS, "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away," so that the beloved of the Lord may be in the dark. It may be night with her who has a place in the heart of the Well-beloved. A child of God, who is a child of light, may be for a while in darkness; first, darkness comparatively, as compared with the light he has some times
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 42: 1896

Hypocrisy
I am sure that every true child of God will stand at times in doubt of himself, and his fear will probably take the shape of a suspicion concerning his own state. He that never doubted of his state, He may--perhaps he may--too late. The Christian, however, does not belong to that class. He will at times begin to be terribly alarmed, lest, after all, his godliness should be but seeming, and his profession an empty vanity. He who is true will sometimes suspect himself of falsehood, while he who is
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Our Requests Made Known unto God
OUR REQUESTS MADE KNOWN UNTO GOD ". . . Let your requests be made known unto God." -- Phil. 4:6. Paul, the pattern saint, would have us see the value of revealing our needs to God in prayer. We must not presume that the things required to sustain life will be granted without making our requests known unto God. Our requirements on earth and God's resources in heaven are meant for each other. If we ask, we shall receive. When we fail to ask, we fail to receive. The Word declares, "Ye have not, because
T. M. Anderson—Prayer Availeth Much

Lii. Concerning Hypocrisy, Worldly Anxiety, Watchfulness, and his Approaching Passion.
(Galilee.) ^C Luke XII. 1-59. ^c 1 In the meantime [that is, while these things were occurring in the Pharisee's house], when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another [in their eagerness to get near enough to Jesus to see and hear] , he began to say unto his disciples first of all [that is, as the first or most appropriate lesson], Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. [This admonition is the key to the understanding
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Christianity Misunderstood by Men of Science.
Attitude of Men of Science to Religions in General--What Religion is, and What is its Significance for the Life of Humanity-- Three Conceptions of Life--Christian Religion the Expression of the Divine Conception of Life--Misinterpretation of Christianity by Men of Science, who Study it in its External Manifestations Due to their Criticising it from Standpoint of Social Conception of Life--Opinion, Resulting from this Misinterpretation, that Christ's Moral Teaching is Exaggerated and Cannot be put
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you

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