Sermon: Kingdom Seekers Keep First Thing First

Sermon: Kingdom Seekers Keep First Thing First

Scripture - Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Introduction - What does it mean to "seek first the kingdom of God"? It's a phrase we often hear, but its depth and significance can sometimes get lost in the outside noise. Yet, at its core, it's a call to prioritize God's kingdom above all else.

Seeking first the kingdom of God means making Him the focal point of our lives. It involves aligning our desires, decisions, and actions with His will and His purpose. It's about seeking His righteousness—the right way of living according to His standards—above our own desires and ambitions.

Daniel gives us a prophetic view of the kingdom. According to Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream, He saw the rise and fall of four great, successive empires. These empires, or kingdoms, have been identified in history as the Babylonian Empire, Medo-Persian Empire, Greco-Macedonian Empire and the Roman Empire. Then Daniel saw God’s Kingdom symbolized as a Stone cut out of a mountain that replace them all. With this understanding in mind, notice what Daniel said about the symbolism of the stone that came and broke the image: “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” This kingdom that “stands forever” is the Kingdom of God, a literal kingdom with territory, subjects, laws and rulers just like the other great empires. It is the very real government of God to be established here on earth at Christ’s return, yet it begins now in the hearts of men who will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

The Psalmist called the Laws of God His righteousness and living obedient to those laws, a life of righteousness. Matthew 6:33 is the first mention of the Kingdom in the New Testament. Jesus proclaimed this message on the Mount of Olivet, when the crowd was filled with people struggling with all of life’s burdens. They were poor, needy, oppressed, and sinful, looking for the way to real life. Jesus gives them the answer in a nutshell. In a nutshell, Matthew 6:33 serves as every Christian’s marching orders. Our ability to seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness can be hampered if we become entangled with the cares of this life. Nonetheless, regularly practicing spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible study, meditation and the occasional fast can help refocus our minds on what matters most. If we do our part to make our relationship with God our highest priority, He will do His part to provide for our every need, and that is something we can count on. That is the life-changing meaning of Matthew 6:33.

I know this verse, memorized this verse and obey this most of the time. Yet there are times, the burdens of life and the weight of ministry gets almost unbearable. Occasionally, saints are near burn out or become exhausted because of too much to do. That is when this verse is hard to do. I must choose to make this verse my life’s priority. Every day, I have any number of things on my to-do list. The personal stuff, the ministry stuff and the family stuff. Besides that, trying to spend more time with family and friends, and emergencies come up. The end of days like that, makes life feel unsettled. Ever had that feeling?

On those days, I slow down, pray, focus, and reprioritize my list. I realized that I had been rectifying and adjusting all the priorities in my life since I’ve been saved. Learning to put first things first should be the goal of every follower of Christ. There will always be the temptation to allow our natural needs and desires in life to crowd out the core element of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteous way of being, acting and doing.

Occasionally, I struggle to remember the kingdom when I am sick, or hurt, or overlooked or underappreciated or misused or disappointed by fake friends or ruthless enemies. When I am criticized or demonized, this verse is hard for me. It seems like doing the work of the church in the world hinders the work of God in my life. I realized that sometimes the business for God’s kingdom without, can crowd out the business of God’s kingdom within. I am talking about me. If Kingdom seekers are going to put first things first, there are several things I have found helpful and want to offer them to you.

Allow God’s Kingdom Righteousness to Govern Your Priorities. I must count the cost of my decisions first. The very first scripture that came to mind was that of: Luke 14:28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”