Bible Reading Blog
“Seek God First”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Matthew 6.33
This blog is an excerpt from Sunday's sermon, "Seek God First"
Our culture is a rat race of working long hours, finding established jobs, managing our money and prepping for retirement. If you think back on the things that have caused you the most stress in your life, wouldn’t you agree that it has to do with controlling things in the future… most of which you can’t control? The world seeks after these things because they have no confidence in anything else to secure their future (Matthew 6.32).
The people of God should have a better outlook. God knows what we need, and while we plan our ways, God directs our steps (Proverbs 16.9). So, the challenge before us from Jesus is this: seek first the kingdom of God.
If you look at your life, what could it be said you are seeking? I fear our culture of comfort and lack of overt persecution for faith can easily lull us into serving the master of apathy. The opulence around us has led us to become subjective servants of Jesus, doing enough to be better than others but not really giving it all. Remember: we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6.32).
Who are you serving? We need to answer this honestly because people of faith seek God’s kingdom. In fact, this is the same word used of people of faith who were ‘seeking’ a homeland (Hebrews 11.14-16). Could it be said that I am seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness? My hope is we will take this challenge personally.
We’ve all made excuses for not growing in our faith by saying things like, “I don’t have time for this or that”, but that fact is, we make time for things that are important. Priorities determine our life and our schedule. If you want to rid your mind of anxieties about life, you need to set your mind on seeking God first. I’m not saying it will make the temptation to be anxious go away; but Jesus provides this as the remedy.
Anxiety about life is in many ways a matter of perspective. We fear what we cannot control. The fact is control is a fabrication of our mind that feeds our selfishness. We simply cannot control many of life’s circumstances. But if we believe God is who he says he is, and that he will do what he says he will do, we should set our mind to seek him… “and all these things will be added to us” (Matthew 6.33).
Beyond just the practical benefits we will find, Jesus demands priority. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot give priority to anything/anyone else and expect the blessings of God’s kingdom. The mantra of Colossians 3.1 ought to move us to see where we’re going: “Set your minds on things above.” In our faith we must seek God as a priority. That means what he says gets moved to the top of the list and I obey. That must be the rhythm of our lives.
