25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Jesus tells us in this passage that worrying adds nothing to our life, but putting God first positions us to add everything needed to our life. This is one of my favorite passages of scripture because it is all about perspective and choice. If we choose to worry and have a negative outlook then we will waste valuable time, but if we choose to seek God’s Kingdom and God’s Righteousness first then we shall gain all the things that God desires for us to possess. Jesus gives us a wonderful example of the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field. He says that if God took care of them shall he not take care of us? Certainly He will. The fowls and the lilies just do their part and trust God to do HIS part. We are so much more productive in the Kingdom of God when we do our part and allow God to do HIS. You might say well, what is my part?
There are three things that we should keep in mind:
1. Put God First - In all things that you do in your life, think, speak and behave with God first in your mind and your actions. God only must be first, not family, job, or other relationships. God has made it very clear that He must be first and other relationships are fine but are not to be placed above or before your relationship with Him. Remember it is God who gave you those relationships. Have this thought first “How will God respond to what I am thinking, speaking and doing?”
2. Seek out the Kingdom of God - God has His own operating system, His MO(mode of operation). Ask yourself, Where is the Kingdom of God aspect in the decisions that I am making? Look for the consistency of God and what He tells us in scripture to guide you in your search for His will in your life. Remember it is His Kingdom (way of doing things) not ours that will bring us great success. Always think Kingdom of God first.
3. Measure it according to His Righteousness - God has to give approval to what is that we do. Often things seem right to us but they are not right according to God. Look at this way Righteousness is to do something that is right with God and is right when presented to God. So let us check our actions, thoughts and words by 1) presenting them to God and then if God approves then 2) God will stand with us. In other words like a contract, if the presentation (wording) is acceptable to God and God approves of its intent then God will sign it. A right action, thought or words will be able to stand this two-fold test from God. Remember it is only right when God says that it is right.
Challenge:
It is at this point that God presents to us one of the greatest open-ended promises ever made, “all these things shall be added unto you.” Whatever your need God then promises to add what is needed to meet that need. Remember God will ALWAYS do His part and what He promises but we must do our part, which is putting Him FIRST.
