Christ’s admonition to seek the kingdom of God is found in Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
In the dialogue leading up to this verse are a lot of examples as to what people focus their lives on. In verses 19-32, Christ focuses on the verse which sums it all up, verse 33, as quoted above.
The analysis deals with where your treasure is; not to serve two masters; and not to worry about the physical things of this life, because if you have your priorities straight, God will supply your physical needs.
If we are to seek first the kingdom, we have to have a clear picture in our mind as to what the kingdom of God is. Even though the definition is broad, it can be narrowed down, in part, to the understanding that God is a Family, consisting of the Father and His Son Jesus Christ who work in harmony to achieve what God wants, while Christ is subject to God the Father, the Most High God.
It also includes our potential to become full-fledged sons and daughters of God; and that God will establish the Government of God on this earth at the return of Jesus Christ; and the world structure will eventually be changed by the implementation of the laws of God, summarized by the Ten Commandments which show us that we demonstrate our love for God by keeping the first four commandments and our love for fellow man by keeping the last six commandments.
Then there are many statutes and judgments which explain the Ten Commandments further and show how to apply them specifically. The sooner mankind keeps these eternal laws, the sooner they can reap the benefits and blessings attached to keeping them.
The kingdom of God involves other aspects as well, but for the context of this editorial, it is being narrowed down to a few.
“Seeking” the kingdom involves doing some analysis and getting our priorities straight and not getting sidetracked by the things of this world like food, clothing and physical aspects which God will provide if we stay the course; and if we remain focused on the admonition to seek the kingdom first in our lives, the rest will follow.
The other aspect of this verse is to seek “His righteousness.” Since the Father and Christ—the Kingdom of God—are one in approach and righteousness, we have the example of Christ that we should follow. Christ’s life was pleasing to God since on more than one occasion, it was stated that Christ was the Father’s beloved Son in whom He was well pleased (compare, for example, Matthew 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22).
Let us look at the admonition in Proverbs 3:1: “My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands.”
So, seeking God’s righteousness involves obeying and keeping His commandments which in this day and age are rejected by man, and yet, they are not that complicated.
The definition of seeking includes, “to attempt to find (something).” For instance, note this example: “They came here to seek shelter from biting winter winds.”
“Seeking” can also mean, “to attempt or desire to obtain or achieve (something).” Examples could be: “The new regime sought his extradition,” or, “Her parents had never sought to interfere with her freedom.”
In addition, “seeking” can be defined as “asking for (something) from someone.” Here is one example: “He sought help from the police.”
Finally, “seeking” can be understood as “seeking someone/something out” and “searching for and finding someone or something,” like in this example, “It’s his job to seek out new customers.”
So, we can see that seeking involves some effort on our part, and we have to be continually seeking the kingdom of God which will be established when Christ returns, and which ultimately is the only hope for mankind, and we need to seek the righteousness of God which involves keeping the commandments. All the other physical things we may wish and desire will be given to us in due time; and at the end, the best gift of all will be eternal life. Let’s never forget the words of Christ in Luke 12:32: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
