Seek the Kingdom of God Above All Else

 

Jesus Christ commands us in Matthew 6:33(NLT), “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” During our time here on this earth, we sometimes forget that we were sent here on a mission from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This mission is to spread the Good News of his sacrifice, resurrection, and the salvation God has made available to us through Christ. It’s true that we have other responsibilities while we’re here, but these can never supersede or overshadow our responsibilities to the faith. God and the business of His Kingdom should always be our great motivation and top priority in life, and we should be doing all that we can to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through God’s love.

To understand God’s expectations more clearly, we must comprehend that there are some things in life that are non-negotiable. In other words, we can’t and won’t compromise on those things. This is true in our spiritual walk with Christ, and we also see this in our everyday lives as well. For example, we know there are tasks we must complete in order for our lives to work, so we factor these tasks into our life’s equation and do what’s necessary to fulfill the obligations. Take our jobs for instance, those of us that have jobs understand that we are expected to show up for work at a scheduled time. If our work schedule is 9 to 5, it would not occur to us to show up at 2:30 in the afternoon and expect to begin our workday. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t do this. We would show up on time because we must comply with the company’s rules in order to be compensated the way we expect.

Most of us won’t even think to compromise when it comes to the expectations of our job requirements. We understand that if we fall short, there will be negative consequences. If we don’t get paid, things could potentially go very wrong in our lives. So not only do we commit ourselves to do what our job requires, we are diligent to do it every workday of the week, without delay or fail. If we have this attitude and diligence when it comes to our employers, how can we possibly think that God will accept less. He will not.

Proverbs 3:5-6(NLT) instructs us to, “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Human beings seek. Men seek wives, women seek husbands. We seek jobs, food, shelter, and just about anything else we feel will add to our happiness in life. We are seekers; it’s what we do. We go in search of those things that are important to us so that our needs can be met. God is the Source of all blessings, and He commands us in Proverbs 3:5-6 to seek HIS Will, not our own, and seeking His Will should always be first in anything we attempt to do.

Putting God first is a non-negotiable requirement, and He must be first in all things. Veering away from this truth can cause us to be very disappointed and dissatisfied with our lives. I get it, life will take us through some tough times, and not only this, many of us get bored with things very easily. We like life to move at a certain pace, and when it doesn’t, the devil will use this to tempt us with things that will take us outside our destinies in Christ.  Many of us have given in to those temptations and lived to regret it.

James 4:7-8(NLT) tells us, “7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” God requires all of us. There is no separation in Christ, so God doesn’t tolerate us having one foot in and one foot out when it comes to His kingdom. Not only must we come close to God, but we must remain close to Him. We must remember that the enemy is after our destinies, and he will do anything and everything to prevent us from receiving what God has in store. Heavenly Father is letting us know that even in our weakest points in the flesh, through Christ  He has empowered us to resist the devil, so that our loyalty is never divided. Instead, we can continually choose to be deeply devoted to the One True God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We must be devoted to God, and God alone.

2Chronicles 16:9(NLT) tells us, “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Our Heavenly Father rewards us when we are diligent in our commitment to Him. And we must know that there will never be a time when we are at a disadvantage for putting God first.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our example, and he always put God and His agenda first. In John 8:29(NLT), Jesus said, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” Jesus Christ had free will choice just like we do, but he chose the Will of the Father over his own will every time. Matthew 26:39(NLT) tells us, “He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine”.  Even when he knew he was about to suffer the worst death any human being could ever suffer, he humbled himself before the Father and sought the Kingdom FIRST. This is our example, and no, it isn’t always easy to walk this Christian journey, but it is always worth any sacrifices we make. Our relationship with God is the most important treasure in all of life. He expects us to behave as if we know this and to seek Him first in all that we do.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Seek the Kingdom of God Above All Else” written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.