Seek First

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

SEEK FIRST

Matt 6:25-34

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 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. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

NIV

And now the “Therefore”. Jesus has been telling us not to store up treasures for ourselves here on earth, but rather in heaven, for where our treasure is, that which we place value on, there also is our heart. Jesus admonishes us not to focus on the things of earth, but rather on heaven, for what we gaze upon, what we look at with want in our eyes, our heart follows. He goes on then to tell us we cannot have a divided vision, we cannot have a divided heart regarding God and money. We cannot want both of them at the same time, the desire for one is incompatible with the desire for the other. Now he comes to the main point which begins with therefore. He tells us not to worry a about our life. We should not be concerned about having food and clothing, or in other words, the material needs of this world. He has just been telling us we cannot serve two masters, and now he makes that point very clear in showing us examples of how God cares for his creation which we are his crowning glory, his finishing touches of his creation. All of creation, all the birds of the air, all the vegetation he spoke into existence, but we have been formed from the dirt of the earth. In essence God knelt down spit into the dirt, made mud and formed his man, then he leaned over and breathed his very breath into his handcrafted man. We were not spoken into existence and so we are told that as much as he cares for all the he just spoke into existence, how much more does he care about the handiwork of his hands and that which contains his very breath. Pagans are referred to as those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior as we have. They do not have a divided heart as they pursue full throttle the wealth of this world. Their only concern is their life, their material gain, making the most of their time here. Their goals and ambitions are mainly fame and fortune.  Sure there are those few who do great humanitarian works, yet to what end? Do they receive praise from men for their great deeds? The point Jesus is making is that the pagans chase after the things of the world with no concern about the kingdom of God. Their hearts are bent toward their own pleasures, goals, and ambitions strictly for their own self-interest. We should not be pursuing the same things, as we have decided to follow Jesus. So if then we chase after the things of the world we would have to have a divided heart. So then how can we love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul or spirit, and all our strength? How can we chase after God and still want all the stuff? He tells us that if we do chase after him, and only him, he will add all the stuff to our lives. He will care for us, he will provide for us better then he provides for the rest of his creation. Here again he concludes with this aspect of worrying about our future. It seems that is more and more of a priority among the body of Christ in this present age. With all the ads on television and radio about securing our financial future with gold and silver, which mostly appear in the conservative programs, which are more than likely viewed by many Christians, we are deemed the target market as we are viewed as being in want of wealth and our future needs of it. Some churches have even conducted seminars on money matters. There are actually Christian investment counselors, helping Christians secure their future needs. Have we lost our way? Have we become so concerned about our future here on earth that we have forsaken seeking first the kingdom of God? Have we become too concerned about our retirement plans, when Jesus teaches us not to, that we have decided to simply pick and choose what we will follow? Do we chase after the things of the world thinking we are just being good stewards? Jesus is clear on this matter. We must seek the kingdom of God first and foremost. The kingdom is our only goal and ambition. God will take care of our retirement.  He said he would give us rest.

Matt

28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest . 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

NIV

Although we will get to this passage again, it is interesting the Greek word translated rest, has a meaning of to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labor in order to recover and collect his strength. Does that not sound like retirement? Instead of chasing after our financial security so we can retire from our own efforts, we should seek after the kingdom of God and he will give us retirement. Perhaps not the kind many believers are chasing after, but nevertheless he will give us the ultimate retirement in the place he has prepared for us. Until then we are to labor, keep busy, doing that which he has called us to do. Seek first his kingdom, do not worry about our life, our future, God will make sure we have one, both here and there. It is about what we seek first.