Seek First the Kingdom

Matthew 6:33  ‘But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’

This verse was spoken by Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount, and contained a challenge for everyone, especially Christians who are unduly concerned about their need for their daily provisions.  The ‘all these things’ Jesus referred to were basic necessities of life such as food and clothing.  Jesus was assuring those listening that by seeking first the kingdom of God, they could rest assured that their physical needs would be looked after.  When God makes a promise we can be certain that He will be faithful to fulfil it.  But this promise comes with a condition – we are to seek ‘the kingdom of God and His righteousness’ first and then He will perform His part of the bargain.

God knows what each individual needs, and since every person’s need is different, God is able to provide what is necessary according to the differing needs.  The problem many of us have to deal with is that we fail to differentiate between wants and needs.  While God promises to  meet our needs, nowhere does He promise to supply our wants.  The key to having God supply our needs lies with having a right relationship with Him.  In Psalm 37:25, David stated that ‘I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.’  Again, David qualifies the statement by saying that it applies to the ‘righteous’, or those who are part of the family of God.  God waits to bestow good gifts on His children, but He wants us to make ‘His righteousness’ a priority, which we must seek diligently.  The first step is to realize that we have no righteousness of our own, but must obtain as Paul did ‘the righteousness which is of God by faith.’ (Philippians 3:9)  When we are partakers of Christ’s righteousness, we need not be anxious about God supplying our other needs.  He wants us to prove that we can depend on His providential care.

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