More Than Survival
Matthew 6:33 ESV says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
This verse is the concluding statement in Jesus’s dialogue in Matthew 6 about trusting God to provide all the basic things we need for our everyday life. It is a powerful passage to read at all times, but especially when God is stretching you to trust him as the provider. When the pressures of life close in, it is tempting to look for escape and shortcuts. It is particularly important that Jesus directs us in this passage to set aside the material needs we have to grab onto the heart of the kingdom of God.
The invitation to seek the kingdom of God is not an invitation to a task but rather a motive. While there are many practical ways that we can live out “seeking the kingdom,” these tangible acts are all expressions of the intent to live according to the principles and standards of God’s kingdom. Those who genuinely seek the kingdom pay more than lip service to their faith. They walk it out in particular expressions modeled by the life of Christ and discussed at length throughout the scriptures.
Jesus presents a vision of faith that contrasts with a religious ideology. A religious doctrine presents practices and habits that promise salvation, or at least good citizenship, and a social context for thriving. It is contractual in that participation yields greater reward, and negligence leads to lack. In a religious framework, the ideology might teach practical wisdom for flourishing, but ultimately the questions of Matthew 6 persist. These questions are all about survival. How will we eat? What are we going to wear?
The argument Jesus presents at the end of Matthew 6 is that life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Citizens of God’s kingdom understand that their purpose is more than survival. We are provided the luxury of concerning ourselves with matters beyond our basic needs.
Of course, Jesus was not teaching us to be lazy and freeload off the kingdom. Work, diligence, and stewardship are core values of Christian living. His message challenges the notion that the best we can do is meet our basic needs and fulfill our religious duty. He declares that our task is to seek the kingdom of God and righteousness and trust God to provide for the little details.
We can become so preoccupied with getting our life in order that we forget we have been invited into a divine story. Jesus reminds us today that getting caught up in worry and striving stands in opposition to the way of the kingdom. His way is that of Matthew 7:7-8 ESV, which says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
How might these words of scripture challenge your focus as you move into the weekend? Seek God’s kingdom. Receive the invitation to more, and watch God add all you need.
