There is one particular subject matter that I preach and teach on more than any other to believers. It is a subject matter that represents believers number one objective for every day of the rest of their lives.
Every believer’s number one priority are the words of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 6:33. Jesus said, “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Jesus prefaced these words by telling us to consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. He said notice that the birds sow nor reap, but God provides them with everything they need. Then Jesus said we should look at the lilies of the field who do absolutely nothing, but yet God adorned them with glory more that what King Solomon had.
The illustration of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field represent what Jesus meant when He says, “all these things will be added unto you.” In other words if we make seeking God and His righteousness our number one priority God will give us all we need and God will clothe us with glory.
Too many of us as believers are seeking glory from the wrong people, places and things. We seek glory from our possessions. We seek glory from the churches and organizations we belong to. We seek glory from our associations with certain people. But Jesus said if we first seek God and His righteousness, God will simply add glory to us.
In essence, God is say if you seek Me and My righteousness, (which is God’s way of doing things,) I will clothe you with a glory whereby you will be exhorted by Me and not by man. He will clothe us with a glory whereby we will be respected and validated by both our friends and our enemies. He will clothe us with a glory whereby, not only will everybody else feel good about us but we will feel good about ourselves.
Jesus introduced us to the truth of seeking God first by saying, “No man can serve two masters.” If we as believers are trying to serve two masters, Jesus said we will end up hating one and loving the other. We will end up being loyal to one of them and despising the other one.
A master is anything or anyone that has grabbed hold of us as a stronghold. A master is anything or anyone that has your full attention and your full thoughts when you first wake up in the morning. A master is anything or anyone that has become your number one priority as you live your life on a daily basis. A master could be your job, your business, your friend or spouse, your pastor or even your church.
Jesus is telling us if we seek God first and His righteousness then everything we are trying to get from another master or masters, He will simply give it to us!!!
Jesus said at another text, that He has come to give us life and life more abundantly. He is talking about have more of an abundant life right now. But having that is impossible if we do not make Him our number one priority on a daily or consistent basis.
Jesus was only adding to what God said to Joshua in the Old Testament when He said seek ye first… In Joshua 1:5-8, God said, if you meditate on My Word day and night you will make your way prosperous and you will have good success. God went on to say to David later, if you meditate on My Word day and night I will give you the desires of your heart.
My brothers and sisters, I have tried and done this and I can assure you it works. I have seen and experienced God helping me to make my way prosperous. I have seen and experienced God helping me to have good success. And I have seen and experienced God giving me the desires of my heart even when I did not pray to Him for my desires.
But I have also seen and experienced what can happen if you do not seek God first. There have been periods of time in my life when I did not seek God first and/or meditate
on His word day and night. And during those times three things seem to always happen.
The first thing that occurs is my thinking and thought process becomes hazy and blurred. It gets that way because I am depending on my own wisdom or the wisdom of others instead of seeking God and acknowledging Him in all my ways. This always leads me to the second thing.
The second thing that occurs is that I find myself thinking more of myself than I should. I find myself fooling myself into thinking, “I did this or I accomplished this.” These Good things are happening because of me.” “This success is because of me.” Everybody else is benefiting because of what I do.” “I am all that and more.”
Whenever I find myself in this type of delusional thinking it always leads to the third thing that happens when I do not make God my number one priority. I found out the hard way, that I have giving place to the devil. We are commanded by Jesus thru the Apostle Paul, “Do not give place to the devil.”
If there is anything in your life, other than God, that has move to first place in your life, then you are giving place to the devil. You are creating an opportunity for the devil to come and steal, kill and destroy. Seeking God first is like taking prescribed medicine. If you stop taking your medicine, sooner or later, you will get sick. And if you fail to seek God first for any period of time, sooner or later, the devil will cause something bad to happen in our life.
We all serve a God who wants all of his children to have nothing but good days. A good day is any day where you have spent time with God as you seek Him first. If on any given day you have not completed your “to do list.” but have still sought out God in some form or fashion, then you have still had a good day.
If on any given day, you have made mistakes or done something wrong but you still took time with God, then you have still had a good day If on any given day, you have been mistreated, persecuted, lied on or criticized, but you still took time out for God, then you have had yet another good day.
It is possible for every day of the rest of your life to be a good day. That possibility can become a reality only if you, everyday, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
