It Starts Small

Do you see the very first word in this scripture? “But.” Paul uses “therefore.” When we see these words, it means we need to look at the greater context of what is being spoken.

Jesus instructs us to seek first the Kingdom of God and it is the midst of the context of worry. We term it anxiety. In the preceding verses, He is teaching about the particular worry of life including food, shelter, clothing, and the like. This is one of the most powerful parts of the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus is clearly showing the difference between living in the old covenant versus living in the new covenant. He’s bringing through His work on the cross.

Before we received the redemption of Christ life included striving, sweating, working and just trying to survive by their own ingenuity and drive. Our sin had separated us from the abundant provision of God and cursed us with painful toil and working by the sweat of our brow.

Jesus reconciled humanity to the Father through His shed blood on the cross and restored us to the fullness of what it means to be sons and daughters of the King. A reality where, just like in the story of the Prodigal Son, the Father came running toward the son in love, restoring him to his place as a son and heir. Every need is met in abundance, every right and privilege restored, and the son has need of nothing!

Jesus is telling us how the new Kingdom works. Jesus draws a stark comparison between life in the Kingdom versus the life we have now:

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? ²⁷ Can any of you add one moment to his life span^[a] by worrying? ²⁸ And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. ³⁰ If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? ³¹ So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’

Matthew 6:25-31

Seek first, is an invitation to a new reality. A reality of the Kingdom. It is an exchange. We give up living for and by what we can do for ourselves for a life of sonship where provision comes because of who we are, not because of what they do!

The God of the universe is offering to provide everything you need—not just spiritual, but your tangible, physical needs—if you’ll simply seek His Kingdom first. It is provision flows out of His Kingdom because you are His child and He loves you, not because of how you perform, sweat, work or strive on your own.

This means, seek first, that you look to God and His Kingdom for everything: including your purpose in life, your daily provision, your creative inspiration, your business ideas, your family relationships, everything. In doing this “all these things will be added unto you.”

Jesus also instructs us to seek His righteousness. Remember our Greek word, dikaios which means, observing divine laws. Jesus is not only commanding us to seek God first, but also the practical outworking of the Kingdom in our daily life. We must seek to manifest the Kingdom of God in our daily lives as we live life according to the way God wants us to live.

This is the practical outworking of what is commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:10 where Jesus says, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As we pursue the Kingdom of God and the way He does things, we are used by God to bring the reality of Heaven to earth.

Anxiety gets in the way of pursuing righteousness because it become a huge distraction. What will I eat? What will I wear? How long will I live? These are from the scriptures, but what are you worrying about today that God has promised to provide for? This include more than just physical needs? What do you need emotionally? Spiritually?

When we are fully seeking the Kingdom we are in agreement with God that we trust He is faithful to provide for all our needs and in turn we can focus on pursuing His righteousness so we can live out our purpose for Him to reveal the Kingdom to others through us. When we are free of that worry and anxiety, we can better pursue what He has for us because we do not have to worry.

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