Powerful as a Two-Edged Sword — That Cuts Both Ways

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:31-33

This is one of the most widely quoted and widely taught scriptures in the New Testament.

Most of the messages I have heard in regards to this scripture tend to focus on seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And why wouldn’t they? This was the crux of Jesus teaching in this passage.

From that starting point, things often tend to go awry, in my opinion. Pastors and teachers generally delve into themes around the dangers of chasing after riches. They explain how the allure of wealth can become an idol in our lives and that we should seek first his kingdom and his righteousness rather than chasing the almighty dollar.

This is all good and well. What these teachers are saying is true. The trouble is, that is NOT what the scripture is saying. In other words, it is NOT what Jesus said.

What he did say is ‘do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’‘

These words have nothing to do with chasing after wealth or riches. The rich don’t worry about what they will eat, what they will drink, or what they will wear. Not in the same way, anyhow. With all due respect to those who earn way more than I do, the angst over which $100,000 handbag to buy is simply not the kind of worry Jesus is addressing here.

When Jesus tells us not to worry about basic necessities, like what we will eat, drink or wear, he is talking to ordinary hard-working people. And, rather than issue a warning against chasing after the almighty dollar, he addresses the dangers of chasing after the ordinary, and mundane dollar.

So… the real message in Jesus teaching is more akin to, ‘Do not worry about your next paycheck, or making ends meet. Rather, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’

For me, as an everyday hard-working believer, who is just trying to make rent, put food on the table and put my kids through school, this is far more challenging than the vanilla version I generally hear preached from the pulpit. It’s a hard message to hear because it highlights a frightening truth; my life-long struggle for the next paycheck is love of money at its stealthiest. I never planned for this life. I never pictured this as living the dream back in my twenties.

And yet, it is this constant worry about making ends meet that detracts me from my primary purpose as a believer; to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. This was Jesus’ challenge to us when he spoke those immortal words in Matthew 6:33. As long as my main concern is with my next paycheck or how I will put food on the table and clothes on my back, I will never put God’s kingdom and his righteousness first in my life.

Seek First His Kingdom

So how do we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness? We start by putting kingdom first, and paycheck second. We cannot be intentional about seeking first the kingdom of God without being equally intentional about how we earn and spend our money; they are flip-sides of the same coin, according to Matthew 6:31-33.

This may sound easy but it really is not. In fact, when I consider the implications of Jesus teaching on this matter, I find seek first his kingdom some of the most challenging — even frightening — words he ever spoke.

For instance, there are 84 daylight hours in a week. How many of those are spent seeking the kingdom of God? How many are spent seeking a paycheck? When I first did the math on this question, it did not look pretty. There was a time in my life when I woke up at 05h30 every day, to leave for work by 06h00. After a grueling commute, a hard day at the office, and then a return journey, I seldom got home before 18h30 — often later in the evening.

At that time in my life, I was spending 65 of the 84 daylight hours each week in pursuit of a paycheck. That amounts to 77% of my time. It sounds horrendous but, actually, it is not that unusual. Many of the hard-working people I know do this every week of their working life.

Lest you assume that I spent the remaining 23% of my time in pursuit of God’s kingdom, let me clarify. All I wanted to do, after arriving home, was sleep or unwind by watching some mindless TV show. I stopped attending church meetings and home-group Bible studies during the week. I stepped down from all church-related responsibilities because I simply did not have the energy. I stopped reading my Bible altogether and, outside of a church service on Sunday, I made zero effort to engage with my fellow believers in any way. I just didn’t have the time.

In fact, the sum total of my time spent seeking God’s kingdom in any given week was the one and a half hours I spent in a church service each Sunday.

So how did I change that state of affairs? I quit that job and started working from home. I was doing the same thing but earning far less money — and after one year, the money ran out. I was flat broke. What followed was eighteen months of financial turmoil. I desperately needed money to survive but I was determined that I would not exchange my newfound freedom for another paycheck.

I decided that I would never again let something as fleeting as job security rob me of God’s plan for my life!

Now, four years on, I work almost entirely from home. My hours are flexible for the most part. In fact, I now find that I have freedom of both time and movement. Two years ago, I took my family to France for a week. There, I was able to spend some quality time with my family, while still delivering the work I needed to. I just shuffled some of the hours around and did my work in between dips in the pool and grilling meals on the barbeque.

I now have both the time and energy to study God’s word each day. I also spend a lot of my time writing and sharing with others how God has worked in my life. I am far more involved and able to serve in my local church. God has led me to research and discover missionaries that I am able to support out of my increased earnings. Most of all, I have more time to spend with my wife and children.

I am by no means where I should be yet, but I am working towards a goal in which I craft my work life around God’s kingdom and purposes. I have the energy and freedom to spend time in prayer, seeking God and understanding how he wants me to serve him.

The lessons I have learned in my journey? Seeking God’s kingdom cannot be an afterthought; otherwise it is not first. How we then choose to earn our paycheck and how we choose to spend our money goes hand in hand with the decision to seek God’s kingdom first in our lives; they are flip-sides of the same coin.

If we are to truly seek first his kingdom in our lives, then we need to earn and spend our money in such a way that we create the time and freedom we need to — well — seek God’s kingdom. The apostle Paul was a prime example of this. He earned his living in such a way that he could move freely throughout the Roman world, preaching the gospel as he went. By keeping his expenses low, he generated surplus income so that, when called for, he could stop working altogether and devote all his time to preaching and teaching God’s word (Acts 18:5). He earned enough to pay for his passage across the Mediterranean many times over in his missionary journeys.

In his own words, he knew abundance and he knew lack (Philippians 4:12). But throughout all this, he never lost sight of his calling; he put God’s kingdom first and figured the rest out as he went along.

Paul lived by Jesus words, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness… and instead of worrying about what he would eat, drink or wear, he worked when he needed to and trusted God to provide.