Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 6:31

"Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?" — Matthew 6:31 (ASV)

Therefore... — The command which, in Matthew 6:25 and Matthew 6:28, had previously been given as general and abstract, is now enforced as the conclusion of a process of thought that is more or less inductive. A change in the tense, which we fail to express in English, indicates a more special and personal application: “Do not take thought; do not be over-anxious now.”