Matthew 6:33
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Well that just has to be the very best thing that the ambitious among us could hear, God will give you everything you need. But in order to get everything we need, we have to do two things that most people in the Kingdom of God know little about. How do we seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and what really is the Kingdom of God? And how to we live righteously?
Well lets get down to basics.
Jesus shared a parable about the sheep and the goats. He said that the sheep went to heaven because they did things right, and the goats went to hell because they did things wrong. So for you that can't recall what that was let me refresh your memory.
Matthew 25:34-40
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
These are the sort of things that make up the work of the Kingdom of God. To seek the Kingdom above all else would to be love God with all your heart, and love mankind with all your heart mind and soul. Now I know many people who live Christian lives and hardly ever do these things that are mentioned here. I am not preaching a works doctrine here, though some may accuse me of it. I am just saying that people seeking the Kingdom above all else would not be overlooking needs that they can address.
A stranger in this passage is in one translation called a homeless person. So seeing a stranger and taking them in to live with you or to show them hospitality is basically doing that for someone who is homeless. I live in a government apartment that only costs me $95 per week. It has two bedrooms and the rent for each bedroom is 25% of the occupants incomes. If no one lives with me the apartment is $95 per week and if someone lives with me along with my $95 they get charged 25% of their income. In the eight years that I have lived here, three times I have taken a homeless person into my place. I say this not to boast, but I say this because Jesus led me via his Holy Spirit three times to help out a person in need with no cost to myself.
Seeking the Kingdom is also knowing what you are born to do in this world for God and doing it with all your might.
Living righteously is loving God and loving your fellow man is the very best possible way that God's grace allows you to. Paul says that anyone that lives by the Spirit overcomes the works of the flesh. When we learn to walk with the power and leading of the Holy Spirit we can live a righteous life. It is not impossible to do a very good job of it. There is power in the cross of Christ, the blood of Jesus, and there is power, overcoming power in the Holy Spirit that can allow you to live a holy and righteous life.
So our verse says: Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
If you seek the Kingdom above all else, you love your fellow man and God in word and deed successfully then God will give you everything you need. This does not say God will give you everything that your heart lusts after I am sorry. It says that you will be given everything that you need. That is enough food, enough clothes, enough for moderate living, and enough to have some fun with life.
Many of God's promises come with conditions. Having a Bible promise book can be helpful, but sometimes a verse like this needs the conditions explained a little better. Having basic needs met is a right from a child of God who is living right. If you are ambitious let your ambition be to be the biggest blessing to God and people that you community knows about. That is an ambition that God will see you rise to and achieve.
Prayer
Father,
Lead me to books that can teach me what the Kingdom is all about. Lord teach me and empower me through your grace to live a righteous life. And Father teach me how to live to be rich in treasure in heaven and not a person that has to be rich with earthly wealth. Change my heart, and do a deep work in me so that I desire only to serve you and provide for me and my family so we have no lack in our household. In Jesus name I ask. Amen.
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