Matthew 6:33 (NASB)
But
seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you.
This passage
could be the most prominent passage in the Bible that teaches about the top
priority in our lives. This is the only
passage in the Bible that tells us what to do first. The first priority in the life of a Christian
is to seek His kingdom and His righteousness.
Hmmmm, what does all this mean?
Note the action
verb----seek. That word has always
fascinated me. What does “seek” really
mean biblically? It’s a commandment
found throughout the Bible. Seeking God,
His kingdom, His righteousness is a discipline His true followers must do and
this means making the sincere effort to spend time with Him. We spend time with Him through study, prayer,
and meditation. When Jeremiah 29:13 says
“And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart”,
he means that we search for God until we find Him. We find Him through Bible study, prayer, and
meditation (meditation meaning to prayer over the Bible study that you
do). Studying God’s Word will naturally
bring His kingdom and His righteousness into our hearts. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 “the pure in
heart shall see God”.
And what things
will be added to you? The Message Bible
has an interesting interpretation of this passage, starting with verse 30--“God
gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never
even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best
for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so
preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving.
People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you
know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative,
God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday
human concerns will be met.” What is
added to you is God doing His best for you, God providing everything for you,
all your everyday concerns being met.
This is what we receive if only we put God first in our lives.
Why are you to seek first His kingdom and
His righteousness? Seeking His kingdom and His righteousness
is seeking God Himself. Seeking God is a
commandment found throughout the Scriptures (112 references in the Old
Testament; 16 references in the New Testament).
Your very purpose for your existence is to seek God (Acts
17:26-28). Seeking God is longing for
His fellowship (Psalm 63:1; Isaiah 26:9; John 4:23) for without it you are
spiritually dead (Hosea 4:6).
The NLT translation says, “Your heavenly Father
already knows all your needs and He will give you all you need from day to day
if you live for Him and make the kingdom of God your primary concern.” Jesus is trying to help you understand your
life’s priorities. Your priority is NOT
to work, to make money, to play, to have fun, to seek fulfillment in your
career, to have pleasure, etc. If you
trust the truth of the Jesus’ words, He has spoken about most of mankind’s
needs in the verses leading up to Matthew 6:33.
Note that He says that God already knows that you have these needs. He will give them to you IF you live for Him
and make His will and ways your primary concern
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