Seek First the Kingdom of God
and His Righteousness!

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

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you. O you of little faith?

"Therefore do no worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" Matthew 6:24-34.

The gifts of God are the values and blessings that He shares with us. If we want God's values and blessings in our lives, our focus must be on Him and the instructions He shares with us. His blessings are not separate from His values. If we do not care for His values, we will ignore Him and by ignoring Him, we have only this life to look forward to. Jesus touched on this principle by stating, "No one can serve two masters." We either will seek to know God and serve Him, or be engrossed in the pleasures and/or pain of this world. Putting the pleasures of the world ahead of seeking to know God and His righteousness is dangerous. "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" James 4:4.

Yes, there are pleasures in the world and they are tempting. However, to know the Lord of creation, the God of all flesh, the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Vine from which His branches grow, the One who was dead and is alive, the Resurrection and the Life; these are themes to dwell on. David from his experience wrote, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" Psalm 34:8.

So why do we worry about what we shall eat, or drink or wear? Our heavenly Father knows that we need all these things. Here is Christ's promise to those who are in union with Him. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" John 10:10.

Christ's purpose is not that we should live apart from the world but that we should not be overcome by the evil that is in the world. Jesus prayed to His Father, "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth" John 17:15-17. Our challenge is to keep our eyes focused on "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29. He will lead us step by step into the more abundant life that He came to share with us.

Your word O Lord, "is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" Psalm 119:105. Thank you, Jesus, for sharing the values of Your kingdom and Your righteousness with us!