In The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of how much God cares and provides for us. He sums up God's provision for us by saying, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt 6:33).
Jesus tells us in this passage that God will always do His part for us. The first part of Jesus' encouragement to us, though, reminds us of the part we must offer Him. When Jesus said for us to seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, He used the imperative mood for the term seek, which conveys the importance, the necessity, of doing what He says. It is not an option, if we are to please the Father; we must turn to Him and make every effort to sincerely and humbly follow and obey Him. The will of God should guide our conscience, and spiritual truths, guide the decisions we make in life. Paul expressed it this way to the Galatians, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20).
Can you imagine Paul just doing what he wanted in life, without considering how God's will fit in to it? Yet, how often is God's purpose an afterthought? Too many have bought in to the deception that, no matter how one chooses to live, God will approve, and will bless whatever thoughts or actions one pleases to do. Jesus, however, did not offer any exceptions to seeking firstGod's kingdom or righteousness. There is no area of life where God's will does not apply, no situation where it does not come first in making one's decisions and how one lives. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col 3:3).
When you approach your job, is it from God's perspective? When you are at home, with your family, do you live as God's person, fulfilling God's role? Do you use your financial resources according to what is godly and righteous? Is recreation for renewal, physically and spiritually? There is nothing we approach in life where God should not take priority in how we view it and how we live it. If you go through large parts of life without thinking how God would have you respond in this or that situation, you are not putting Him first, or His kingdom, or His righteousness. How can you have His richest blessings if you are living for self, if God is not the one for whom you live? "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4).
May our lives be for what is good, what molds us in the image of God's good will, what builds us up spiritually. May our choices, decisions, and actions in life be to God's glory and honor (1 Cor 10:31). May we make it our priority in everything to put first God, His kingdom, and His righteousness.
Robert Johnson, Longview TX