But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [what you shall eat, drink and wear], will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33
We all know this verse. I am sure most believers have heard it countless times both in church and Sunday-school. But have we contemplated its true meaning? I believe Matthew 6:33 is one of the most challenging verses in the Bible for the average first-world believer. That includes me.
For the full impact of this verse, let us consider the verses preceding it.
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:31-33
Distilled to its core, Jesus is saying, ‘Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness — not a pay-check!‘ Let’s consider how we acquire those basic necessities in life; what we eat, what we drink and what we wear. We purchase those things with money. And how do we come by that money? We go out, get a job, and earn it for the work that we do.
Now here’s the thing. Most people have an average of 16 waking hours each day — and most people spend ten, or more, of those hours on work-related activities. That includes time spent at work, commuting to or from work, or getting ready for work.
As a measure of our time, that amounts to roughly 62% of our waking hours. As a measure of our energy, it is actually much higher. How energized do you feel when you arrive home after a hard day’s work?
Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness
According to Matthew 6:33, we should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The promise is that, when we do this, then all these things will be added to us as well — what we eat, what we drink, and what we wear. However, all too often, we turn this on its head.
We wake up at five or six in the morning and get ready to leave for work — seeking a pay-check. We rush out to catch the bus or train, or do battle with grueling traffic in our effort get to the office on time. Then follow eight to ten hours of work. And, finally, the reverse commute back home, all in pursuit of a pay-check.
We tell ourselves that we don’t worry about money, but that is not strictly true. The reason we don’t worry is because we have a pay-check. We trust our employer to pay us what they legally owe — because we gave up the sixty most productive hours of our week in pursuit of our pay-check. And we trust God, our employer, and maybe luck that we will not be made redundant before we reach retirement age, as long as we hold up our end of the bargain and keep putting in the time. We call this job security.
Here is the hard truth. When we wake up at five or six in the morning and spend the first eleven hours of or waking day seeking a pay-check we are, by definition, seeking that pay-check first. We don’t cling to job security as a way to overcome our financial anxiety. Rather, we do it because of our financial anxiety.
In other words, having a job does not cure our worry about what we will eat or what we will wear. Instead, because we worry about those things, we cling to our job at all costs. In short, we seek first our pay-check.
Some of us compensate for this by spending some time in prayer first thing in the morning or, maybe, reading our Bible on the train journey in to work. Hats off to those who manage this; you’re doing better than most. But can this really qualify as seeking first the kingdom of God? Twenty minutes! Weighed against eleven hours spent in pursuit of a pay-check… really?
I know this sounds harsh but Jesus never said following him would be easy. God set the bar high. Thank the Lord for his grace and forgiveness, is all I can say; I fall way short.
That said, I want to rise to the challenge! By the power of God’s spirit, I want to truly seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. So how do I achieve that? Hand in my resignation tomorrow and spend all my time and energy in God’s word? Not only is that impractical, it borders on foolish. I simply don’t believe that is what God’s word demands of us.
Rather, I believe it is a process. First, I can start with twenty minutes a day spent in prayer and reading God’s word. That is a great place to start! In that time, if I truly seek his kingdom and his righteousness, I believe a picture will start to form. That picture will show what God’s kingdom should look like in my life. Once I know what his kingdom looks like in my life, I can formulate a plan to craft that life.
This will almost certainly change the way I currently earn and spend my money. I cannot seek God’s kingdom first while I still worry about what I will eat, what I will drink or what I will wear. These are flip-sides of the same coin.