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MATTHEW 6:33 “BUT SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU.” (KJV)
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (NKJV)
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (NIV)
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (NASB, ASV)
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (RSV)
Steven Covey was a famous writer who specialized in teaching people proper time management in the business world. In his book, “First Things First” he states: “a meaningful life is not a matter of speed or efficiency. It’s much more a matter of what you do and why you do it, than how fast you get it done.” He emphasizes to his readers that “principles produce both personal peace and dramatic results.” Scripture would tell us much the same.
Matthew related such words of Jesus as He spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. He taught that life was more than the accumulation of things, that worry is bad and doesn’t add joy to your life. “All these things” the Lord was referring to in the previous and following verses included the clothes we wear, what we eat and drink and worrying about tomorrow.
Jesus says in verse 33 that it is most important to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. If we do this, all the things that tend to do their best try to take first place in our thoughts and minds will be taken care of for us by the Father. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
It is amazing some of the things we will let take first place in our lives. The future we prepare for so much can occupy all our time. We can get so intense providing for our family and loved ones that living a righteous life can become an afterthought. Entertainment and socializing can become so preeminent that we can forget the Lord completely. After all, we say, He is always there for us to come back to. Even competing in the work place or in other activities can become so intense that it can dominate all of our attention, passion and love. And let’s not even mention how striving for riches, wealth and possessions can replace almost everything else we say is important to us.
I guess it isn’t too far a stretch of our imagination to see how even worrying over what we wear, what we eat and what we drink can become first in our lives. Jesus quickly redirected our priorities to remind us that if we want the things we need, let alone all the other things we want, we really need to seek His kingdom first and His righteousness.
Seeking the kingdom of God often means forsaking all the other things we thought were so important. Self-sacrifice is so foreign a concept, even in the church, that it is easy for us to be caught up in competing for everything from time, treasures, talents, attention… Very often this mis-focused attention on everything else but the Lord’s kingdom can even become destructive. How many men and women, even leaders in the church, have found themselves lost in defeat, tragedy and destruction before they even realized that seeking the kingdom first had been the last thing on their minds?
Memorize this verse! Repeat it to yourself over and over, not just so you can remember it, but so its message will sink way down deep into the daily routines of your life.
Reading the Word first in the day can help you seek the kingdom first. Aligning your relationships to those the Lord would give priority in your life can help you keep the most important people first in your life. When making important decisions, ask the Lord what His will is in the matter…well before thinking about how the decision will make us better or meet perceived needs.
The disciplines of discipleship can help us leave behind many things that we eventually will find should never have taken first place in the first place. Seeking the kingdom first might even lead to sacrificing a lot of the things that we think are important so we can find God’s will for our life instead of our own all the time. Imagine the Lord coming to us and telling us, you need to sell all you have and give it to the poor and come follow me. Could you do that?
Seek His kingdom first. He will make sure you have all the things you need that you think must take so much priority over Him. If we seek His kingdom first and His righteousness, we might be amazed at all the things He will add to us!
Questions to ponder: Why does worry overtake us so much? What has taken first place in your life instead of the kingdom? The kingdom of God doesn’t always mean just our lives in the church. How is everything we say and do during the day something the Lord would like to include in our perception of what the kingdom is supposed to be? A kingdom must have a king. We know that Jesus is supposed to be our king. But how many times have you realized that you are on the throne and not the Lord? Is what we wear so important that it is possible it can become the throne in our life we can’t let go?
Other Scriptures to consider: Luke 11: 9-13 encourages us to ask, seek and knock. Luke 12:7, we are more valuable than sparrows, but the Lord guards them. 1 Peter 5:7, Casting our cares on Him, because He cares for you. That kind of rules out worry, doesn’t it? Luke 12:22-31, the parallel verse to this one. Don’t worry about clothing, food, drink. Don’t have an anxious mind. Seek the kingdom first!
A song to remember: You might get the idea that a lot of memory verses we would like to learn have been incorporated into songs that have been sung for years. Watch and listen to this YouTube video many times this week as you memorize Matthew 6:33:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3S1wfXmYPw
 
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