Seek Ye First His Kingdom & Righteousness!

  Matthew 6:33 is a common scripture to believers: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  I have read this scripture many times over in different seasons and occasions, yet this week, the Lord enlightened this Word in my heart a new and brought fresh understanding.

God has commanded us to seek His kingdom and righteousness first.  This means that God's kingdom and His righteousness ought to be our highest priority; it needs to be our utmost desire and longing.  This is not an option; it is a clear instruction that requires our obedience.  What does it really mean to seek His kingdom?  It means to desire and allow God's reign to take charge over all aspects of your life.  Seeking His righteousness means to continually strive to being conformed to the image of Christ, through the inner working of Christ in our lives.  This inward transformation takes place as we spend time with God in prayer, worship, reading of His word, fellowship and outreach.  In His presence, we die to flesh and are made alive in righteousness.

Just like many commandments in the bible, this too is with a promise.  When we focus on seeking God rather than the things of this world, God promises to add all other things to us!  What a great promise this is!  God does not promise to give us some things, rather He promises to give us all things.  Clement of Alexandria said,"Ask heavenly things, and earthly things shall be added to you" (Ellicott's Commentary).  Human beings have numerous limitations but God is not limited.  What He has promised, He will do, according to His riches in glory.

There are so many promises that God has made to the righteous, that time and space are not enough to list them all.  However, I will look at some scriptures from Psalms 112:1-8:

Praise the Lord.

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
    who find great delight in his commands.

² Their children will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
³ Wealth and riches are in their houses,
    and their righteousness endures forever.
⁴ Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
⁵ Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

⁶ Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
    they will be remembered forever.
⁷ They will have no fear of bad news;
    their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
⁸ Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
    in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

Living a righteous life often, if not always, comes with a high cost; it is the cost of following Christ.   However, the worth of salvation cannot be compared to any present suffering.  God is not obliged to bless us, but He chooses to do so, because He unconditionally loves His children.  God has promised that He will cause the children of the righteous to be mighty in the land.  They will grow up in stature and wisdom, to serve and influence their generation  for Christ.  He promises to give the righteous an upright generation that will serve and honor the Lord.  This is undoubtedly a great inheritance for those who fear the Lord and delight in His commands.

Secondly, God promises that wealth and riches will be in the houses of the righteous.  Those who are willing and obedient will eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19).  They will not be forsaken nor will their children beg for bread (Psalms 37:25).  The righteous will leave an inheritance for their children's children (Proverbs 13:22).  The wicked will lay up treasures for the righteous (Job 27:16-17) because the Lord's face is set on the latter.  They will leave in houses that they did not build, harvest from vineyards they did not plant and drink from wells that they did not dig (Deuteronomy 6:11).

Thirdly, God promises to be the Light of the righteous amidst gross darkness, such that they can illuminate His glory even in extremely grim circumstances.  Nations will come to their light and kings to the brightness of their dawn (Isaiah 60:3).  The righteous will know where to go, when to go and how to go, because the Lord's presence abides in them; a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  God's divine guidance and wisdom is upon the righteous!  Just as Moses in the wilderness received God's rhema word for the children of Israel, the righteous will have God's rhema word, which is life and light unto men (John 1:4). 

The righteous will not be shaken by the turbulence that sometimes rocks our lives.  They will stand firm in their faith and emerge victorious because the Lord strong and mighty is their God.  Psalms 125:1-2 affirms this promise: "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures for ever.  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and for evermore".  Despite their circumstances, the righteous remain joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer, for their eyes are continually set on Christ.

In addition, the righteous do not fear bad news; their hearts are steadfast and secure in Christ.  The righteous know that their tomorrow is safe in God's hand, no wonder they need not worry.  They have found rest in God!  What a blessing it is to enter God's rest.  When we are at rest in God, we can rejoice in all things and be content in lack and in plenty (Philippians 4:11).

Today, God is encouraging the righteous that it is not in vain to fear Him and to choose the narrow and hard path of that leads to eternal life.   As believers, sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that God does not remember our labour in Him and sacrifices made for His Kingdom.  God's encouragement to us today is that He remembers our every act of righteousness.  He keeps a record of those acts in His scroll of remembrance as indicated in Malachi 3:16.  He is also reminding us of His nature: He is Faithful.  He does not change like shifting shadows.  On the contrary, He watches over His Word to perform it in His children's lives. 

Join me in making this prayer:

Dear Lord, I repent for allowing worry to cripple my life.  I repent for many decisions I have made due to worry and fear about my tomorrow.  I surrender every aspect of my life to you, because I know you are Faithful and Trustworthy.  I don't want to chase after the things of this world like the pagans do.  I desire to be content and rested in you.  I desire to live a life of righteousness and to honor you with all that you have entrusted to me.  I welcome your reign into all aspects of my life.  Search my heart and know it, and if there be any unrighteousness, may you forgive me and lead me in your ways.  Amen.