Matthew 6:33 -- Will be given to you...

Will be given to you… 

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” 

Matthew 6:33

Think about a time you received a gift from a friend, a coach, a teammate, or anyone else.  How did that make you feel?  Jesus tells us that He will take care of us by giving us the gift of basic necessities such as food, clothing and something to drink.  

Who has the power or ownership over a gift?  The giver or receiver?  In every situation the giver owns something and gives it away to the receiver.  When Jesus says “all these things will be given", who has the power and ownership over the things that are given?  God does.  

God owns everything as Psalm 24:1-2 states, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it, for he founded it upon the seas and established it on the waters.”  God, as the owner of all things, loves us so much that He “gives”.  Jesus is kind of reminding us that God is in absolute control.  We don't own anything.  The only things we can receive are the things that He gives.  Giving is within God’s nature and who He is.  This is most evident when He gives His one and only Son to die for us on the cross (John 3:16).  

If God who is almighty and powerful is willing to “give” His only Son, why would He not also give us less important things like water, food and clothing.  God is in control and He gives because He loves us regardless of what we do.  Matthew 5:45 says: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  Romans 5:8 echoes the same heart of giving, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”                 

As God is the loving, almighty giver, how do you respond when you receive these gifts from Him?                  

What are your thoughts about: 

God being in control and owning everything

God being the all sovereign “giver” 

Matthew 6:33 - And all these things...

And all these things...

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” 

Matthew 6:33

Jesus tells us clearly what will happen when we seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first.  He says: “and all these thing will be given to you as well.”  What are all these things? 

In the context of this passage, Jesus was telling the hearers not to worry about what they will eat, drink or wear as he states in Matthew 6:25:  “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 than food and the body more than clothes?”  

In our world today, many of us consider food, water, and clothing as basic necessities of life to survive.  We tend to live life in fear that we wont have these things one day.  We get anxious and worried that at the end of the day we will not be taken care of.  We tend to think:  “Lord, give me what I need and I will follow you.”  But Jesus says the order of your request is backwards, for He says, “Follow Me (God), and then I will give you what you need.”   

Jesus knows that these things are very important, but shows that they should not be the most important.  What can be more important than our survival?  Why should we not be anxious about these things?  

Jesus continues and explains how He takes care of the birds (Matt. 6:26-27) and the flowers (Matt. 6:28-29).  “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 - you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30)  

"Therefore, since you are so much more valuable to God than the birds and the grass, do not worry about what you will eat, drink or wear.  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them” (Matthew 6:32).  The basic point He is making is that we are extremely valuable to Him, that He loves us and wants to take care of us.  He is our Heavenly Father and already knows that we need those things.  He is telling us not to seek those things first, but to seek His kingdom and righteousness first.   

Do we trust that God will really provide us with the basic necessities needed to follow Him?  

Do we believe that He really cares for us?   

How do you live life:  

1) “Lord, give me what I need and THEN I will follow you.”  OR

2)“Follow God, and THEN he will give you what you need.”

Matthew 6:33 - HIS Righteousness

HIS Righteousness

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” 

Matthew 6:33

Jesus not only calls the listeners to seek God's kingdom first but God's righteousness.  Righteousness refers to being in the right, being correct or doing the right thing. This is very tough because how do we determine what is right and wrong? In the western world, we are growing up in a society that thinks there are no absolute truths anymore.  A person can create their own truths based on their personal views and situations.  A worldview like this allows individuals to chose for themselves what is right or wrong, what is true and false.  They become “the authority” and the standard by what to judge themselves, others and things around them.  In this world view, there is no God.     

But, if we are disciples of Christ, we live with a different paradigm.  We believe that there is only one God (Exodus 20:3-6).  We believe that there is absolute truth.  We believe that there is only one who determines what true and false is, what right and wrong is.  As John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' ”  

So what does this mean for us practically?  Jesus calls us to seek His righteousness first and not our righteousness.  He wants us to do what He deems as right and not what the world says is right.  Are we willing to sacrifice our righteousness for His righteousness?  Do you want to be right or do you want God to be right?  In life and sports we will face this decision:  “What is the right thing to do?”  You have a decision to make…  

How do you determine what is right or wrong in sports or life?

Who’s righteousness do you seek first?   

Matthew 6:33 - HIS KINGDOM

HIS Kingdom 

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” 

Matthew 6:33

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus calls us to seek God’s kingdom.  In the context of this passage, Jesus was telling the hearers not to worry about what they will eat, drink or wear because their Heavenly Father already knows that they need those things. He was telling them not to seek those things first, but to seek His kingdom and righteousness first. 

What does it mean to seek His kingdom?  One cannot separate the king and his kingdom.  Kingdom refers to anything over which the king has authority and rules over. When you know the king you know more of what his kingdom will be like. The important question is: Who is the king you seek first?  Whose kingdom do you seek first?  Who do you seek to be in authority and have complete reign?

In sports and life we face these decisions daily.  We choose which kingdom we will seek first - God's, the world's, or our own.  Do I want God to be my King when I play sports or do I desire to be in authority?  Do I want  God's desires to come true or my desires?  Does God want me to handle time and finances according to the world's recommendations or His kingdom principles?  Do we retaliate back the same way in sports when an opponent mistreats us, or do we respond with His love and compassion?

As we face these decisions daily, we need to check which king we are seeking to have authoritative reign over our lives?

Who is king over your sports and life?  

Do we seek God's kingdom or our own kingdom?

How can we seek God's kingdom practically today?    

**Additional Scripture:  Romans 14:17 says:  "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit," 

Matthew 6:33 - FIRST

FIRST

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matthew 6:33

This is a mini-series of devotionals focused on Matthew 6:33. They will build on each other each week. We will seek to break down the verse word by word, phrase by phrase to hopefully get a better understanding on what God wants to show us and teach us.
The previous devotional focused on the word “seek”. We discussed what that meant and finished by asking the question: “What do you seek?” Today’s question will expand on that by asking: “What do you seek first?” This is the probably the main question Matthew 6:33 is asking. It’s not whether seeking or not seeking is right or wrong, but rather what are you seeking first? What we seek first shows us what is most important on our priority list.
So let’s start with sports. What do you seek first in sports? First is an extremely important word that has a lot of meaning in the world of sports. What you seek first determines what your end goal is in sports. For many athletes winning is what they seek first. Being number one and winning is all that matters. Vince Lombardi once said that: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

The first thing other athletes might seek is to have fun, improve or to be with friends. What do you seek first in sports? The same question applies to life. Because what you seek first in sports and life tend to show what the most important thing to you is.

So what is it in life? Is it surviving, money, relationships, being a good person, being the best or helping others? What does God call us to seek first? In Matthew 6:33 Jesus calls us to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness first. In the context of this passage, Jesus was telling the hearers not to worry about what they will eat, drink or wear because their Heavenly Father already knows that they need those things. He was telling them not to seek those things first BUT to seek His kingdom and righteousness first. Do we play sports and live life like this?

What do you seek first in sports? Why? What do you seek first in life? Why? 

Matthew 6:33 - SEEK

SEEK

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matthew 6:33

The next few devotionals will be a mini-series focused on one scripture. They will build on each other each week. We will seek to break down the verse word by word, phrase by phrase to hopefully get a better understanding on what God wants to show us and teach us. This is probably one of the most quoted scriptures in the New Testament and you will see why. Let’s go ahead and take a closer look.

The first part of the scripture gives us the command to seek. Before we worry about what we are seeking, let’s analyze what it even means to seek. According to lexicon definition, it means [i] “to seek [in order to find out] by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into. “ When you are seeking, you are hoping to find something. In sports, we seek to obtain knowledge of the game, skill to beat an opponent, or abilities to reach certain goals. We might think, meditate, or reason about different ways to find what we are seeking. We do all of this with the expectation that we will eventually find what we are looking for. Would you seek something you expect not to find? Seeking shows faith and hope that there is something or someone that you can find.

Seek refers to the eyes. Wherever your eyes are fixed upon that is what you are really seeking. Where are your eyes focused? What is it you are seeing? After the eyes focus on something then your mind decides the rationale behind it and your heart agrees with the motive then the rest of your body follows.
Seeking refers to being proactive and movement. It means initiating going from one place to discover another. You cannot sit still and expect to really reach the goal you are seeking for.

Now we understand a little more what seeking means. The next question is: “What do we seek?” Do we seek Christ or the world? His kingdom or our kingdom? His will or our will? Each of us can test what we are really seeking. Consider the following two questions: What are your eyes fixed upon? Where do you spend most of your time and money? These two questions typically reveal to us what we are really seeking. God calls us to seek. But who or what is our decision?

What are you seeking in sports and life? What are your goals? What are your eyes fixed upon?
Where do you spend most of you time and money?
i Retrieved from http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm? Strongs=G2212&t=KJV