“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at
the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
-Matthew 6:24-31 NLT
this passage of scripture may be more familiar to some of you if read In the King James Version. The section above that is bolded says this,
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Like many of you, I have heard this passage of scripture. It’s a rather famous passage, especially in this era due to the busy lifestyle we all prescribe to. We almost always refer to it as a reminder that if God cares about the provision of the birds and fields of the earth, then how much more does He care about us, His children. And when this part is mentioned, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So do not worry about tomorrow;” Some tend to use this passage of scripture to fend off feelings of worry and concern, but notice the requirement at the beginning of this part of the scripture. To receive the provision that we are called to walk in (The Lord providing everything we need), Jesus first asked something of us. That means this passage of scripture is not guaranteed for every believer, it’s promised provision incumbent upon those who, “seek first the Kingdom of God.” Jesus is teaching us a way to live, not just giving us a command. He is trying to show us how to have a worry free lifestyle not just to simply stop worrying. Often times when the unexpected comes our way, like we know it will. Though it may surprise you, it doesn’t surprise Him. When you are seeking God and His things first and more than anything else in your life you can roll off all the worry on God because you are confident in His provision.
Now there is another passage of scripture that describes precisely what life looks like when you are NOT seeking the Kingdom of God first.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say..
‘the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord’.”
Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,
“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”
– Haggai 1:2-6 (ESV)
This verse is describing the life of a person who is not seeking first the Kingdom of God. Notice that they built their houses first, and procrastinated on building God’s house. God didn’t appreciate that, and in fact he told them the type of lifestyle they were prescribing too is one outside His kingdom. He didn’t “curse them”, or say “now im going to cause all these things to happen to you”, no, instead the only thing He says is “consider your ways”. It was their lifestyle or “Their ways” that produced their current situation. They never have enough. They never are able to be truly satisfied with their life, regardless of status, wealth, and power. They may have food and drink, but it doesn’t fill the lack of purpose in their life, they may have clothes, but it doesn’t cause them joy, And many people find themselves in the last category, their money is spoken for as soon as they get it, as if their pockets had holes in them.
It’s so easy to explain away why we can’t tithe, why we can’t give any offerings. We use our kids and families as excuses to be unable to afford our offerings. We buy the house, the car, and things for our kids and family to enjoy, but then we don’t have enough left over to carry out God’s plan for our life or to fuel the church we are connected to. How many times have we used the excuse, as soon as I get the car, house, the kids through school etc… then I’ll give big. I want to give more, and volunteer more, but just NOT YET… My friends, if you let it, that mentality will waste your life away without you ever accomplishing something big for the kingdom! seeking God’s kingdom first is puting God’s house above your house. If you need a new carpet, and the church needs a new carpet, give towards the church’s carpet first, and watch as God multiply your seed and He will Add that new carpet to you instead of you adding it to yourself. (seek first the kingdom, and All these things will be added to you.)
Don’t misunderstand me, God wants you to have a nice house, a nice car, and nice things, He wants you to Live Big. God is a big enough God for us to Give Big AND to Live Big. But many are seeking after the “living big” part, when Jesus is telling us to be seeking after the “Give Big” and let God be one who takes care of you and your family’s needs and wants. We should be so focused on giving of ourselves, doing the will of God, and blessing as many people as we can, all the while, trusting God to take care of us.
This is the lifestyle Jesus was trying to show us, and the perspective we are meant to maintain. It’s the life of faith. God takes care of us, while we take care of His will. You see even when we break down the verse to its simplest meaning it brings more light, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else.” A kingdom is determined wherever the authority of the king stretches. In all the neighboring cities and towns, if they pay taxes, if they adhere to the laws of kingdom etc…, then they are part of that kingdom along with all the protection and prosperity of that kingdom. So, when Jesus is saying seek first God’s kingdom, He is saying seek God’s reign in your life. Your first priority should be obeying the laws of God’s Kingdom, on paying your tithes, and on putting His Kingdom above your own desires. As you determine to live your life like this, then you reap the rewards of the King’s protection and all the prosperity of the kingdom. You focus on God, and God will focus on you. You seek and delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalms 37:4). This is the lifestyle we are called to! Things may feel tight, and there may be a tough transition period, but the good news is, as you start seeking first His reign in your life, then you get to start living under His kingdom, instead of the world’s.
This is what I recommend you do, this is what me and my wife do. When you first get payed, take 11% of your earnings and put it in a separate account. We have it labeled in our bank as our, “Giving Account”. That’s 10% for your tithes, and 1% as an offering. You may have to down grade your car, or be on a tighter budget in another area. As you increase, and God adds to you, then that percentage of offering can increase as well, from 1% to 2% and up from there. But don’t do what they did in Haggai and procrastinate on it, saying, “it is not yet time to build the Lord’s house.” Don’t let the “Not Yet” Mentality rob you from another day living in the fullness of God’s Kingdom!
And as far as your personal time with the Lord goes, I recommend first thing in the morning, rather it means praise and worship, or praying, or studying, or a combination of all of them, it helps you keep the right perspective all day long. These are the things that work for me, and I’d encourage you to spend some time talking to God about what your next step in balancing your life should be.
With all this in mind: God will provide everything you ever have need of, and cause you to live a truly satisfied life, but it takes faith, and you won’t notice the change over night. But if you hold fast to your profession of faith as you remind God of His promises and choose to live under His kingdom, then you will see the fruit if you don’t give up.
I feel like the Lord led me to end all my posts with this simple reminder: God bless you all, I hope you know I pray over my readers. If you don’t have anyone in your life praying for you, then know that if nothing else you have me in your corner. I’m praying for all my readers, and that means I’m praying for you. We are all in this thing called life together, and no one needs to go at it alone. So feel free to reach out to me if you have a personal prayer request, also if you know someone who would like to be a part of our community, then let them know about the blog so we can all connect with our God and walk through life together as brothers and sisters! Love you all. -Jake
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