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Prepare Your Heart
To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.
Read God’s Word
A Verse for Today
Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.
Matthew 6:33 (CSB): “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”
Reflecting on God’s Word
In what is often called the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7), we get to listen to Jesus speak about a lot of various topics. Essentially, Jesus is telling us how we are to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. These three chapters tell us how to live as people who have been bought by Jesus’ precious blood and live under His Kingly authority.
The problem comes when we try to figure out how we are to fight off worry. Is it as simple as determining to stop worrying? That doesn’t seem like a good long-term plan because Jesus revealed to us in another text that we cannot simply get rid of something bad – we must replace it with something good (Matthew 12:43-45), or the bad thing will come back with a vengeance.
So, how do we fight off worry? Replace it with a different focus! That’s what Matthew 6:33 is telling us. Instead of consuming ourselves with all of the things in our lives that could go wrong, we focus on something much bigger. We focus on what God is doing in the world and our contribution to it. We focus on helping to build His Kingdom (evangelism, discipleship, helping the needy, upholding justice, etc.) and calling others to embrace his righteousness with us.
Making our contribution to God’s Kingdom our primary focus will not guarantee that our life will be easy or free from trouble. Instead, it calls us to purposefully live our lives, preparing for eternity. After all, we will be on the other side of death infinitely longer than we are on this side.
But a promise is attached to this verse. If we focus on the things that are important to God, then God will focus on what He knows is necessary for us. That doesn’t mean we will get everything we want or think we need. It does mean that God will take care of us as He sees fit. This principle is illustrated beautifully in Philippians 4, where the Christians in that city gave sacrificially from their limited resources to help Paul engage in Kingdom ministry. Therefore, Paul could tell them that God would provide for their needs (Philippians 4:15-20).
But a couple of misunderstandings need to be quickly addressed. This promise does not negate personal responsibility. We cannot sit back and wait for God to take care of us, just as a farmer cannot sit back and wait for God to plant his crop. We must do our part and then rest in God’s care to do his part. What is our part? Seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness and work to take care of our needs. Then, we rest in God’s care and provision.
The second thing we must realize is that sometimes God’s definition of what we need differs from our own. For instance, Jesus needed to go to the cross and die as the final sacrifice for all who will trust in Him for salvation. In that instance, He did not need safety, or food, or comfort. Instead, He needed courage. Just realize that as you seek God’s Kingdom first, you’ll need to let God determine how He defines your needs. Then, rest in His care and provision.
Spend Time in Prayer
Lord Jesus, as I consider how I spend my money and time, I realize all too often that I’m not seeking your Kingdom as I should. Instead, I’m spending much of it on myself, and most of it will not go with me into eternity. Help me to understand the adventure of living out Matthew 6:33 and relying upon you to take care of me as I do so. I pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.
Going Deeper
I love “Got Questions.” It’s a website, app, and podcast put together by conservative, serious-thinking, biblically-minded Christians. So, occasionally, I may add a link at the end of my articles with a link that I think would be helpful.
Check out this article from Got Questions: “What does it mean to seek first the Kingdom of God?”
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Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com).
Matt’s Musings 