Matthew 6:33 states, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” Within this chapter Jesus teaches on giving, praying, fasting, about possessions, and worry. The only way to do any and all of these things we must begin first with seeking God and his righteousness.

How to give: Verse one starts right off with teaching that our giving is a righteous thing to do and should come from our love for all that God has done for us. The purity of our giving is in the condition of our heart and should not be done to impress others. Our giving is to be the by-product of our love and thanksgiving to God for Salvation in Jesus, and all the other blessings that come with being His child. We cannot “buy” the blessings of God with our giving, but our giving is to be the result of our love for God. Giving begins includes the tithe. Tithe means ten percent. Malachi 3:10 instructs us to bring all our tithe into the store house – meaning the church – and it comes with a promise that God will pour out blessings from the windows of heaven.  Luke 6:38 also teaches “give and it shall be given, pressed down, shaken together and running over shall men give unto you.” It goes on to say that how we give – whether grudgingly or cheerfully – that’s how it will come back to us.

How to pray: In verse five Jesus begins teaching about prayer. Our focus or reason for praying should be based on our love for God, and not gain recognition of others. Our prayers should always begin with the acknowledgement who God is. We are to pray for His Kingdom to come to earth; ask for our daily needs to be met; includes our forgiving others. Praying keeps us watchful so we won’t enter into temptation, according to Matthew 26:41.

How to fast: Verse 16 says “when” we fast – not “if” we fast. We are to not be gloomy which makes our fasting obvious to people; we are to fast unto God – not unto others. This doesn’t mean we can’t do a fast with others, but that our fasting is to be with a purity of heart motives before God. Fasting is mentioned in the Bible several times for several different reason. Some fasted for wisdom, others for protection. Some fasted three days, some longer.  So the length of our fasting-time isn’t as important as our drawing near to God.  (Esther 4:16, Nehemiah 1:4, Matthew 4:2, Luke 2:37)

How to view possessions of God: Verse nineteen begins by telling us there are two kinds of possessions or treasures: those on earth and those heaven. Any and all possessions/treasures we have here on earth are subject to beings destroyed by moth or rust, or even stolen. However, the treasures of heaven are eternal and not subject to any destruction. Verse 21 reveals that the possessions we put our most focus on reveals the condition of our heart – whether it’s filled with darkness of the worldly system or filled with the light of God’s Kingdom. We learn from verse 24 that we cannot be serving our desire to acquire earthen possessions and still serving God with the same fervency. Though the Bible is very clear that it is not wrong to have earthly possessions because they are meant to be the blessing of the Lord, it’s just wrong to seek them without seeking God first.

How not to worry: The cure for worry lies within the way we think. Verse 25 starts off by telling us to not worry about our life, what we will eat, or drink, or the clothing we will wear. Then goes on to teach us that if God takes care of the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, He will more lovingly take care of us. God knows what we have need of and when we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, then our needs will be given to us. Philippians 4:6 explicitly instructs us to not worry about anything, but in everything through prayer with thanksgiving make our requests to God. Also, Philippians 4:8 gives a detail of what to think on: whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtue, and of praise; these are what we are to think about continually.

While meditating on this chapter the thought came to me that there are many who seek God for his blessings but forget to also seek His Righteousness.  If we do that, it’s like having the Bible on your coffee table and never reading it!  It would be like actually walking up the Kingdom walls and just standing on the outside of the Kingdom. It’s only when we seek God’s Righteousness – which is His Son Jesus – that we are able to enter into His Kingdom.

My prayer for you (and myself) is that we are not be like the hypocrites who want to be seen for their giving, praying, and fasting – which, by the way, produces anxiety within us; but that we will imitate Jesus who gave, prayed, and fasted to bring glory to God. Let it be known now that it is a lifestyle of bringing glory to God that brings us peace of mind.