In the Gospel of Matthew we hear Christ say, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” What things? ALL THINGS that we need in life. If we are willing to seek God, then our food, our health, our shelter, even our minds, will all be blessed by God. If we seek the world we will be left alone when the world ends. When we seek God, we always have God.
The Lord said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”
Matthew 6.22-33
This morning we’re going to do something a little different. There are several topics in the gospel. Any on of them would benefit us, but I’m going to take the opportunity today to talk about all of them a little bit. I’m going to begin with the ending and go backwards.
“But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” Seek first the kingdom of God, my brothers and sisters, and all these things. What things is Christ speaking about? He’s speaking about the physical needs of life. He’s talking about the things that we wake up in the morning and are worried about.
He’s talking about the things that consume us day in and day out and yet Christ says, “Do not be anxious.” Do not worry asking what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
All the stuff that bothers us, God knows what we need. So how are we supposed to seek first the kingdom and expect that we’re going to have the food that we need, the clothing that we need, the shelter that we need? The key, my brothers and sisters is the word need.
The reason we wake up in the morning is because we are filled with wants. We are filled with a whole list of things that we expect that we deserve in life. We deserve a nice house. We deserve a nice job. When was the last time we woke up thanking God that we had a house to live in, that we had a roof over our house?
When was the last time we woke up and thanked God that we had clothes to put on to keep us warm in the three days of winter that we have here in Florida. Maybe five days this year.
“Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven,” Christ says, “and all these things will be given unto you.” And then He goes on, He talks about the birds. He talks about the grass and the flowers.
“Do not worry about clothing. Consider the lies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon and all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
My brothers and sisters, God provides our needs as much as He provides the needs of nature. But that does not mean that we wake up, stand there and say, “okay, God, put my clothes on. Okay, God, put the food in my mouth.”
The birds of the air, they have to fly and look for their food. The fact that God is going to provide for us does not mean that we have nothing to do. The issue isn’t doing nothing versus doing something. It’s why we do what we do.
And my brothers and sisters, it all comes down to seeking first the kingdom of God. Because when we seek wealth, I promise you, you will never be satisfied. If you seek the most delicious foods, there will always be something better.
I will never forget one time, we had the most delicious peach and we thought, “I may never eat another peach as long as I live so I can have that delicious flavor.” That was from God’s gift. And I don’t think I’ve ever had a peach so good, to be honest.
That was a gift from God. I wasn’t going out seeking joy in that moment, but my brothers and sisters, when you seek Christ and His kingdom, He provides the joy. He provides the peace. He provides the beauty.
And now, to the beginning of the gospel. “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body be full of darkness. If there for the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?”
My brothers and sisters, beauty comes from God. Whether it is that beautiful peach, whether it is the beautiful lilies, whether it is the beautiful home that we’re so blessed to have, every good and perfect thing comes from God. And when we seek His kingdom, we learn to appreciate that beauty and that goodness.
And then the biggest warning, no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. My brothers and sisters, we must make a choice in life.
Are we serving God seeking His kingdom and His righteousness? In which case He’s already promised that everything we need is going to be available to us or are we seeking the world? Are we seeking prestige? Are we seeking wealth? Are we seeking comfort? Are we seeking all the grandeur that the world has to offer?
And what becomes of those things? They turn to dust. They go away. He says, “The lilies of the field, God decorates the grass, which is then thrown into the fire.” All the things that the world has to tempt us, my brothers and sisters, all go away, and all that we are left with is us and God.
And if we spend our life seeking the world, when it all disappears, we are left all alone. But when we seek God, His kingdom, His righteousness, first and foremost in our life, if the house goes away, we still have God. If our job goes away, we still have God.
If our family goes away, we still have God. This is that great gift that He has to offer us. Seek first the kingdom and all of our needs will be met because God loves us, because God will guide us through every day making the decisions and setting the priorities of life.
And we will have food enough to eat, and we will have clothing enough to protect ourselves, and we will have a roof over our heads. Even if it is just one room, it will protect us from the elements and to remind us of God’s grace and His love. Glory to God for all things.
