The Kingdom and His Righteousness
Matthew 6:33 NIV But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
This is a well known scripture for many and it happens to be one of my favorite. But.. that wasn’t always the case.
I actually used to skip over or speed read this scripture when reading my Bible. It was what I like to call a “trigger scripture” for me.
Trigger by definition is as follows: something that evokes the memory of a traumatic experience, setting off an intense negative emotional reaction.
In my experience every time I heard someone speak on this scripture the end result was always to “put first the things of God” and to essentially “do more” to put him first. Which I attributed to more church attendance, more serving in the church, more Bible reading, more praying, more, more, more.
Then it occurred to me one day. What exactly are “the things of God”, and when is enough, well, enough? I realized that even when the speakers would preach on this scripture they never actually said what “the things of God” were. They also never said when enough was enough they simply made you feel as though, well, it was never enough.
One day God stopped me on this scripture and He began to reveal the truth to me.
There is far too much to share everything I have come to understand within one post but I will begin by sharing the key points he has shown me. Honestly it’s pretty simple yet it hits deep.
HIS KINGDOM: Jesus is the king of the hearts of all believers. In fact he lives within the heart of all believers. Every Kingdom has a King right? King Jesus! To seek the kingdom one must seek its King who is at the very heart and center of the Kingdom.
It’s always important to let the Bible interpret the Bible. As such I had to find exactly what the Bible defined the kingdom as.
Righteousness is a gift. It is not something you work to obtain. It is freely given. Jesus is our righteousness.
Peace (Shalom) is a gift. It is not something you strive to obtain by doing all the right things. Jesus is our peace.
The Holy Spirit is a gift. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Last I checked fruit is not striving and struggling to be a fruit…it just is.
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS: notice it is HIS righteousness. Not OUR righteousness. We seek His righteousness because His righteousness is our righteousness. Everything that He is we are. It’s the divine exchange that took place at the cross. We can never become more righteous than we already are in Him.
To sum it up everything listed in this verse points back to Jesus.
It points back to all that He has done for us. Seek who you are in Christ by seeking the person of Christ Jesus. Read your Bible to discover Jesus, don’t read it as a self help book or to mark an item off your to do list. It’s not about a list, it’s not about a level, it’s not a competition, and it’s not about an arrival date.
It’s a continuing realization of who He is, all that He has done for us and who we are in Him.
I know I’m not the only one who has struggled with this scripture, and if it was a trigger scripture for you I hope this has helped shed some light on the heart of God in this verse.
Share your thoughts below in the comments.
Much Love,
Jess