Week 91: Seek First God’s Kingdom (Part 1)

Matthew 6:31–33

31“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 

32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 

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

As a child of God, we know very well that it is our Father’s pleasure to meet all our needs. Jesus Himself tells us, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” But God does not want us to seek after things. He wants us to seek first His kingdom. And when we do that, all the things that we need will be added to us! Amen!

So our first priority every day is to seek His kingdom. The word “first” in verse 33 is the Greek word proton, which means “first in order or importance, holding the highest place in all our affections”. God wants us to seek first His kingdom, and all things will fall gloriously in place.

Few days ago, my daughter was sick and I decided to bring her to see a pediatrician. After waiting for quite awhile, I realized it was not easy to fetch a cab in our estate during the morning.

At that time, I was anxious as I wanted my daughter to seek medical help quickly. Also, knowing it could be long queue in the clinic,, I foresee  myself  being late for work if the cab does not come in time.

I started to pray in the spirit and seek His kingdom first. I did not allow those anxious thoughts to overwhelm me. Instead, I rested in His peace, knowing confidently God was aware of my situation and He will take care of it. I kept praying in tongue and chose not to entertain those thoughts that kept telling me there won't be any cab coming my way.

Not long, from far, I saw a limousine cab coming towards our direction. Naturally, I did not flag the limousine cab for I knew the limousine charge a higher flat down rate than normal cab, even though we were rushing for time and cabs were hard to come by.

I told God quietly" Thank you God for this limousine cab, but no thanks, I do not want to pay for the higher flat down rate, I will wait for another cab."

However, when I signaled to the driver by waving the "No No" sign, the limousine continued to approach us. The limousine cab stopped next to us. It was a lady driver. She winded down the car window and offered us a discount on the flat down rate similar to that for the normal cab's flat down rate! Hallelujah!

Isn't God amazing? Not only did He sent a cab our way, He upgrade it to a limousine for the same price! Praise be to God! That's what it mean in the verse "all these things shall be ADDED to you." My part is to seek His kingdom, His part is to add all things to me! Hallelujah!

The meaning of "seek"

There are two times the word "seek" is being mentioned in this passage. It may look the same in English, but bare in mind that the New Testament is written in Greek and if you examine these two words in Greek, you will notice that they are actually two different. Greek word

We are not to seek after things the way Gentiles do. The word “seek” in “the Gentiles seek” (verse 32) is the Greek word epizeteo. It means “to seek with all their might with much sweat or with much stress”. However, the way God wants us to “seek” in “seek first the kingdom of God” is the Greek word zeteo, which means “to hunger, to desire to worship”. It is simply a hungering, a desiring for the kingdom of God, without any labor or toil.

But what exactly is the kingdom of God?

In my younger days as a Christian, I would relate the word "kingdom" to that of a structure like a castle or a palace. So, to me back then, "kingdom of God" would mean a place where saints dwell. To some extent, I have this idea that kingdom of God is actually the church since that is the place where saints dwell.

There are no basis for my assumption and it was purely based on my own interpretation. How wrong was I! Thank God that He open my understanding by using His  own very word to interpret the meaning "kingdom of God ." Bible interpret bible. 

In Romans 14:17 , we can find the meaning of "kingdom of God". For sure, it is not a castle nor palace. Let's take a look:

Romans 14:17

17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

Here, it tells us that it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And the kingdom of God dwells within us because the Holy Spirit indwells us. So the kingdom of God is His righteousness, peace and joy in us. Amen!

Therefore, if we want to have peace and joy in the Holy Spirit flowing inside us, then every day we need to be conscious of our righteousness in Christ, not our own righteousness, but His righteousness given to us as a gift. Pursue Jesus first. Spend time with Him and listen to His Word. And when we do these things, we are seeking His kingdom and His righteousness, and all the things that we need will be added to us! Amen! Hallelujah!

Grace and peace be with you.