Seek the Kingdom of God First

Salvation and the ‘walk with God’ principle is founded on a verse that so many people are aware of but few really implement. Mathew 6:33 says “but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” KJV Jesus was teaching his followers not to be so concerned to the point of losing sleep over material possessions like food, clothes and shelter whose range has broadened to cars, mansions and other life-facilitators of the current times. He uses a simple example to illustrate this, saying that the lilies (plants with a large, bell-shaped flower on a long stem) of the field never toiled nor span yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of them. (Refer to verse 28-29 of the same chapter.) It should be well understood that Jesus was not encouraging laziness in support of Christians who neglect their earthly duties in search of ‘the kingdom’. Rather he was discouraging a situation where the world would be so busy, not making ends meet, but trying to accumulate more and more wealth that the Word and work of God will totally be neglected. I believe the Lord was foreseeing the various social ailments such as theft, conflicts and murder, neglecting of the poor, corruption and endless court cases that would result from this wealth-accumulation frenzy. He must have visualised a society that will be so much driven by success, prosperity and competition that simple peace of mind will be a rare commodity. This is evident in the current times; in fact it has culminated into health and mental retardation for some who cannot keep up with the trend. We are in a generation where confidence and self-worth is to a great deal measured by material possessions, lack of which has led to some being looked down upon or feeling worthless. Even those who are called and trained to serve God are so preoccupied with this greed for material possessions that they are not effective in the ministry. We may very well have reached the worst point as our newspapers are always headlined with embarrassing stories of pastors fighting for church property and taking each other to court over material things. This brings to our attention the part of the verse that says “seek first the kingdom of God and his Righteousness”. The phrase clearly shows that God’s kingdom and His Righteousness are inseparable. Jesus Christ was so precise in saying that ‘your heavenly father knows you need these things’ therefore assuring Christians that those who seek the Lord truly should also trust him to provide for them. The whole point he was putting across was not to worry ourselves to death with these material things but rather seek first the will of God in our lives while making the best use of the opportunities he gives us like going to school, getting employed or fending for our families and He would take charge of our other needs. Jesus further emphasises that worrying about something you can do nothing about is totally useless and can only reduce your life expectancy-refer to verse 27. If you look at the last verse in Mathew chapter 6, he ends his teaching by saying that every day has enough issues of its own therefore it would be best to focus on the present. Here, he was teaching people to be optimistic as a sign of total trust in God and urging them to strive to deal perfectly with issues at hand. Of course this cannot stop us from practicing good economic policies like saving or preparing for disaster, but it should not take too much of our efforts that we end up living miserably while saving for or worrying about tomorrow. Jesus says ‘tomorrow will worry about its own things’. Ends