Seek First the Kingdom of God

Matthew 6:33 ESV

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

If you start reading this passage, beginning with verse 25, you will learn that Jesus is talking here about us not being anxious and worried and fearful about our lives, and about what we will eat and drink and put on our bodies. For, he said, 

“Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” 

And then he went on to talk about how he takes care of the birds of the air, and how he provides for them, and how we are more valuable than they are. And then he asked a very thought-provoking question, which is a good question for us to ask ourselves if we begin to get anxious or worried over any of our circumstances. For, he said,

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”

Absolutely true, right? When has worrying over anything made anything better for our lives? Worry and fretting and being anxious only make things much worse. For now we are miserable and fearful, and our stomachs are upset, and we have headaches and body aches and pains that we did not have before. And we make others around us miserable because we are miserable, if this is how we choose to respond to the difficulties of life.

Now there are things in this life we should be concerned over, but that should take us to our knees (literal knees or figuratively speaking) in prayer, and this should cause us to call upon the Lord to meet us in our times of need and to show us his ways and to direct our paths. And then we need to trust him with our circumstances and just follow him wherever he leads us, and part of that may be learning to discern needs from wants, too.

And then Jesus went on to talk about how he takes care of the lilies and the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven. And again he gave the encouragement to not be anxious about such things as food and drink and clothing. For he said that the Gentiles (the ungodly of this world) seek after all these things, and God the Father knows that we need them all. So we are not to be anxious about these things.

But this isn’t just about the basic necessities of life, but we are not to worry about anything in this life, no matter how bad things get. For our Lord is absolutely in control and is sovereign over all creation, and he has all things worked out according to his will and purpose. So this isn’t saying that we will never have to suffer, or that we will never hunger or thirst or be in want for even the basic necessities of life. But if we are his, he will provide for us.

Now he may not provide for us when we want or how much we want, but he is watching over those who are his by faith in him, and he is going to provide what we really need, for like he said, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” And sometimes, honestly, what we really need is a dose of reality, and trials and tribulations to keep us humble and to keep us trusting in him and not in ourselves. Do I get an “Amen”?

So, instead of being anxious about the things in these temporal lives we have on this earth, we are to be those who are seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And we don’t do this so that God will bless us. We don’t give to God so he will give back to us. We seek him and his righteousness because we love him and because we appreciate what he has already done for us in providing for us salvation from slavery to sin.

And if we are truly seeking him and his kingdom and his righteousness, our lives are going to be surrendered to him to do his will. We are going to be committed to serving him with our lives and to going wherever he sends us and to doing and saying whatever it is he commands us to say and to do. And it doesn’t mean that life is going to be easy for us. In fact, he promises us that it will be hard, and that we are going to be persecuted for our faith.

So, seeking the Lord and his righteousness and his kingdom can never be about us and about having our needs met by God. This has to be about us laying our lives down on that altar and giving our lives fully in service to our Lord even if we get kicked in return, and even if people reject us and lie about us and say all manner of evil against us. We have to stay the course and trust God to work it all out for good and for his will to be done.

Seek the Lord  

An Original Work / July 20, 2012

Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.

Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,

And your soul will delight in richest of fare.

Give ear to Me, and you will live.

I have made an eternal covenant with you.

Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him. 

Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.

Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.

Freely, God pardons him.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,”

declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.

It will not return to Me unfulfilled.

My word will accomplish all that I desire,

And achieve the goal I intend.

You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.

The mountains will burst into song… before you, 

And all of the trees clap their hands.”

https://vimeo.com/379408296