Seek The Kingdom Above All

VERSE OF THE DAY

Matthew 6:33 (New Living Translation)

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Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

When we seek we shall seek first the kingdom before all else. We shall live humble and righteous and he will give you all desires of your heart

Matthew 6:33 is the thirty-third verse of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This verse continues the discussion of worry about material provisions. Wikipedia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_6:33

What Does Matthew 6:32 Mean? ►

“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Matthew 6:32(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

Christ’s Sermon of the Mount is not a treatise on how to be saved, for we are saved by grace through faith in His finished work at Calvary. His teaching deals with the deeper, spiritual implications of Christ’s authority over the lives of those who would believe in Him. The Jewish perception of the Messiah was a man who would come to defeat their Roman overlords in the physical realm and establish peace and plenty for all. The Jews of Christ’s day were more concerned about their physical wellbeing than their spiritual health.

Jesus was more interested in describing the necessary character traits, godly attitude, and spiritual temperature of those desiring to enter the kingdom of heaven. He had to correct the erroneous, Jewish belief that righteousness came through strict adherence to the Law. He alone would fulfil the Law through living a perfect life so that the sacrificial offering of Himself on the cross, would be sufficient to satisfy God as the full, and final payment for the sin of the world, which would also redeem the fallen race of man.

In His teaching, Jesus gave examples of the right and the wrong way to live. He explained the acceptable way to do charitable deeds and the godly way to fast and pray. He frequently took examples from the natural world in order to teach an important, spiritual truth and to teach that pursuing kingdom truths, which will last forever, is of far greater value than chasing after the temporary treasures of this world

Much of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount relates to the vital principle of trusting God in all things. To believe His word and act in faith on His promises is the thing that pleases God. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him and one of the biggest demonstrations of a lack of faith is worry…  which is why Jesus concluded by addressing the issue of fretfulness and fear, anxiety and worry.

Because of all the things He had taught them, up to this point, Jesus continued… “For this reason, I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”  And using the little birds of the air and the fragile flowers of the field, Jesus gently explained that if God showed so much care and concern for birds and flower, should they not trust Him to supply all they needed according to His gracious goodness and lovely character?

Jesus was speaking to those who believe in God. Jesus was teaching Jewish people who had a covenant relationship with God. Jesus had been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel who had a covenant with God. He was instructing the people who had their history written in Scripture, which proved God’s faithfulness to them from one generation to the next.

The people of God should not be worried or concerned about such things as food to eat and clothes to wear, for He is our Shepherd and Provider, and has promised to supply all that we need. “It is unsaved Gentiles who eagerly seek all these things,” Jesus pointed out. “But your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things,” were the comforting, yet corrective words to His people.

This teaching from Jesus was given to His covenant people, Israel, but there is so much of His teaching that is applicable to the Church, that we need to seek out all the truths that we can glean from this important Sermon on the mountain. Knowing that God has promised to fulfil all our needs according to His riches in glory, and having proved His faithfulness to us on so many occasions.. we need to take to heart this warning about worry and address this issue in each of our lives.

The child of God who anxiously frets over their daily needs and necessities is demonstrating a serious lack of faith in the word of God and behaving like the unsaved who do not know the Lord. The one that worries about this and that demonstrates doubt over the many precious promises the Lord has given to each and every one of us in His Word of truth. Financial and relational difficulties often rise up to cause a Christian to worry. What will the future hold? How will I manage? Where can I go? What can I do? Why has this happened?

Too often it is fretfulness and worry that causes the Christian to remove our eyes from the God of our Salvation and Lover of our soul, onto the looming circumstances of life, and the more we feed our fear and fret over the future, the quicker our faith in God crumbles.

The quickest way to cause fear to evaporate is to focus the

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/matthew-6-32

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The word “seek” in Matthew 6:33 is a present imperative verb that means one is to pursue something and keep on pursuing it without stopping.Sep 16, 2021

What does Matthew 6:33 mean?

This is one of the key verses in all of Jesus’ teaching, commonly used in quotes, artwork, and Bible memorization. Like any other lesson from Christ, it must be understood in the context of the verses that come before it. Too often, Jesus’ words here have been ripped out of that context and used to suggest that God will supply endless material blessings if His children seek Him first. That is not, at all, the meaning of this sentence.

The context of “these things” are the basic needs of life: food and clothing. Jesus has commanded His readers not to live in continually worry about how they will obtain those, even if they don’t know where the next meal is coming from. He wants them to trust the heavenly Father to provide what is needed for His children because He values them so greatly (Matthew 6:25–32). Instead of living in constant and fruitless worry, Jesus gives His followers a different outlet for their energy: pursue God’s kingdom, trust His righteousness, and leave it to Him to take care of the basic needs of our lives.

The call to “seek first” God’s kingdom and righteousness connects to the other teachings Jesus has given in this Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1–2, 5–6, 16–17). Motives matter, and only by sincerely putting God first can we pursue righteousness. Followers of Christ should prioritize living according to the principles He has been teaching (Matthew 6:24; John 14:15). Jesus’ earliest message was the same as that of John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

To seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness means to live in that ongoing repentance from sin, and to lead the kind of sincere, from-the-heart, devoted-to-God lifestyles Jesus has been describing. In response, God will make provision for whatever it is we truly “need” in order to accomplish His will.

Context Summary

Matthew 6:25–34 concludes this part of the Sermon on the Mount with Jesus’ teaching about anxiety. Even to the very poor, Jesus says not to worry about food or clothes. God feeds the birds and clothes the lilies beautifully, and His children are far more valuable than birds. Anxious emotions can’t add even an hour to a person’s life. Instead, Jesus tells His followers to trust God to provide what they truly need. The context of what we ”need,” however, is the will of God—which might look very different from what we would prefer (Matthew 5:3–12).

Chapter Summary

The Sermon on the Mount continues in chapter 6, which is entirely composed of the words of Christ. Jesus teaches that God rewards deeds motivated by sincere devotion to Him, not by approval from other people. He teaches a simple and authentic model prayer. Christ warns against stockpiling money and possessions on earth. Instead, believers should make choices that store up treasure in heaven. A person’s top priority can either be God, or money, but cannot be both. Along with that, Jesus says believers should fight against anxiety about daily needs. The heavenly Father knows what we need. All we need to do is pursue His kingdom and righteousness; He will take care of our needs, one day at a time