DAY 33: THE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

DAY 33: THE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

SCRIPTURE:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

OBSERVATION:

In the course of the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus stops at one point to tell His disciples not to worry about their lives - what they would eat or what they would wear. Instead, he asks them to observe the birds of the air that the Father feeds, and the lilies of the field that are clothed more beautifully than Solomon in all his splendor. And at this point, He teaches them one of the great truths of abundant life – But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

When someone tells us “Don’t worry”, we are comforted, and of course, we like “all these things will be given to you as well”. However, Jesus did not say “Don’t worry and do nothing”. He said don’t worry about yourself but seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. The word “seek” as translated from Greek actually means “to keep on seeking”. It is a continuous, active word that is not just a onetime action, but a constant way of life, expressed out in action.  

What is God’s kingdom? Our initial reaction is to think of beautiful Heaven, where the streets are made of gold, and where there is no suffering or pain or sadness, and that is true, for that is the place where God reigns. However, from another perspective, God’s kingdom also consists of all who worship God as King, or all of us who are citizens of God’s country. Therefore, to seek first God’s kingdom is to seek for her extension through spreading of the gospel and bringing sinners to forgiveness and admission to God’s country. This is the foremost mission and calling of each believer and the church.

What is God’s righteousness? It is the perfect righteousness that no human can attain to, but is freely given as a gift to all who believe in Jesus Christ, that He died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected back to life on the third day. No one can earn this righteousness, it can only be received gratefully from God by believing in His Son.

What then, after receiving this righteousness? Did God just give us this righteousness for us to then go out and live any how we want? Of course not! He means us to learn to start training to live in righteousness by cooperating with His Holy Spirit to change us - to stop living in our old sinful ways and instead learning to live God’s way as He leads us. Hence, to seek God’s righteousness is to seek to live God’s right way more and more. And this we can do not by our own strength, but by opening ourselves to be guided by God’s Holy Spirit day by day. If we turn back and refuse to follow God’s ways, we are worse off than if we had never known God’s grace at all, as warned by the apostle Peter.

How do we know we are correctly being guided by the Holy Spirit? Here’s where it is important for us to get to know the Bible more and more, studying it carefully, reading it often, and also learning from trusted pastors and Bible teachers. The Bible will certainly teach us how to live righteously God’s way. Guided by God’s Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we thus know we are on the right track.  

APPLICATION:

We need to remember the Lord’s twofold calling to us here – to extend God’s kingdom, and to live righteous lives that glorify God. And He promises that if we do this, we will never lack anything for we have a great Creator God who is able to supply all our needs

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PRAYER:

We praise You and love You Father in Heaven for You created all things and hold all things in their place, providing for all the creatures and plants of the earth. Incline our hearts to serve You, we pray, and cause us to always have that strong desire to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness in our daily lives. Open doors for us that we may bear good testimony of Your grace, and strengthen us O Lord to say no to the temptations of the world but prioritize living righteous lives before You. We praise You and worship You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.