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WHAT ARE YOU SEEKING FIRST?
(Matthew 6:33)
The Lord Jesus uttered these radical words
in His Sermon on the Mount. In the previous verses, He states
that we are not to have great concern about earthly things,
such as what we eat, what we drink, and what we wear. These
are the very earthly matters that are of great concern to
the world. The magazines, newspapers, radio, and television
all emphasize the delights of what we eat, the pleasure of
what we drink, and the fashionable clothes that we must wear
to be in style! God, as a loving heavenly Father, knows that
we have basic needs in life. He will provide what we need,
although He may not provide such blessings in abundance.
After stating what we are not to seek,
He tells us what we are to seek. We are to "seek first" (not second, third, or tenth) God’s
kingdom! The term "kingdom" comes from the Greek basileia and
means God’s rule, reign, dominion,
authority, and kingly power (Pershcbacher, The New Analytgical
Greek Lexicon, p. 68). Furthermore, we are to seek first
God’s "righteousness." This term is from dikaiosune and
denotes "righteousness" or "uprightness as
the compelling motive for the conduct of one’s whole
life" (Arndt an Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon
of the New Testament) or "the sum total of the requirements
of God" (W. E. Vine, The Expanded Vine’s Expository
Dictionary of New Testament Words).
Therefore, Jesus tells us that we are to have
as our priority God’s rule in our own life and
we are to do all we can to extend this kingly reign in the
lives of others. Further, we are to have as our priority God’s
righteousness. We must strive to obey the will of God with
all of our heart and must seek to walk in righteousness before
Him, then we must seek to bring others to this righteous
way
of living as well.
How revolutionary! Instead
of seeking after the pleasures, pursuits, and pastimes
of the world, our chief
occupation must be to live under God’s rule and walk
before Him in absolute holiness, doing what is right under
all circumstances! Is this true of you and me? Are we honestly
seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness?
Richard
Hollerman
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