Jan 29,2019
In Matthew 6:28-33 Jesus says, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? So do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
I love when Jesus says, “you of little faith” or in another place says, “Why would you doubt?”. The fact that there is the distinction of “little” faith means that there is the ability to have “great” faith. “Why would you doubt?”, means that you could believe. You would never chaise something that was unattainable. If however, it is attainable, to attain it will demand and necessitate commitment, action, effort and belief.
Jesus says,”Don’t run after all the things everyone else is chasing after. These basic necessities of life – what am I going to eat, drink, wear. Instead seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” Jesus says there is more to this life than the basic necessities of the body. A necessity is something you need, Jesus is not saying you don’t need them. But he is saying that there is a greater necessity then these.
Let’s break it down:
Seek: to learn, study, explore and understand. Seeking necessitates, action. Seeking is a pursuit. You seek so you can find.
First: speaks of priority of life. This has nothing to do with the time of day you read the bible. This has everything to do with defining what is of the utmost importance for existence. When you think about the necessities of life – water, shelter, food, cloths; everything you do in your day is to ensure that you have these things. In the same way Jesus is saying there is a higher priority and it is understanding his kingdom and righteousness so that you can truly live.
His Kingdom: a kingdom is a government. Kingdom is a compound word(King – dom) – King being one who rules and reigns; Dom coming from domain, which is the land and territory a king owns and rules over. Isaiah 9:6-7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Jesus in Matthew 4:17 “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repent (to change the way you think), for the kingdom(government of God) has come. Jesus said in Matthew 6:9-10 “This, then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”
His Righteousness: righteousness is a governmental and legal term that states: you hold right standing with the king. What is fun about a legal term is that it is not based off your emotion – whether you feel righteous or not. It’s based off of Jesus paying the penalty so that there is no longer a charge against you.
If we were to say “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” another way it would go like this, “It is of the utmost importance and the highest priority of life that you understand who I am and who you are in me.”
To seek, to know who God actually is and therefore find out who you actually are, is of the utmost priority – Jesus said this is so. This is an invitation to truly know who God is. Those who seek find, which means your perspective is in an expectation to succeed. You will never try to access that which you don’t believe you have access to. What if you learned what you actually have access to and then accessed it? Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, who God is and who you are in him.