Luke 12:25 (YLT)

Passage

and who of you, being anxious, is able to add to his age one cubit?

Nearby Context

Luke 12:23 the life is more than the nourishment, and the body than the clothing.

Luke 12:24 `Consider the ravens, that they sow not, nor reap, to which there is no barn nor storehouse, and God doth nourish them; how much better are ye than the fowls?

Luke 12:25 and who of you, being anxious, is able to add to his age one cubit?

Luke 12:26 If, then, ye are not able for the least--why for the rest are ye anxious?

Luke 12:27 `Consider the lilies, how do they grow? they labour not, nor do they spin, and I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "anxious", "able", and "cubit". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "anxious" and "able", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 24's "Consider the ravens that they sow not..." into verse 26's "If then ye are not able for...", so "anxious" and "able" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "anxious" and "able" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.