“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”
Question; How has that been important to you over the years?

These Things

These are listed in verse 31 as what we shall eat, drink, and wear, the most basic of needs. For these, it’s easy to think we could be excused for being very concerned if they will be available tomorrow.
But verse 32 recognises that anxiety over these becomes the idolatry we see about us today – “For after all these things the Gentiles seek”. The content of advertising shows our focus on these things is carried to excess; e.g. in Western society the volume of new clothes that are discarded without even being worn is huge. And just as the Israelites were warned not to gather manna for more than one day or it would turn sour, so an excessive focus on food in our world is associated with an epidemic of obesity and its associated health problems.

The kingdom of God and His righteousness

In John 18:36, Jesus explains His kingdom “is not of this world”. So, “seeking first his kingdom” is not about the size of churches or numbers being baptized. It is about our hearts being focussed upon Jesus above all materialistic concerns, on living in the joy of that focus and sharing it with others. It refers to the eternal nature that God seeks to provide for us, which is priceless, and it makes the temporary things of this earth that quickly decay seem trivial in comparison.

Difficulties in Application

When I reflect on my life, I immediately wonder to what extent I have “sought His kingdom” first, as so much of my energy has been spent in paid employment.
I think we are easily influenced by the social pressures that focus on materialism. Our ability to provide an income affects our value as husbands, and I have known men whose marriages ended when they lost their job. And I wonder how I would feel about this verse if I was homeless and didn’t know if I would eat today.
How do we reconcile this verse where there is suffering due to starvation among Christians? One of the most appalling things I ever read was in a book written in the 1850’s by a clergyman. He described a recent famine in India, where in a Christian province over one million believers had died, as “an instrument of God’s discipline”.

Importance in my life

From my observations of people, I think that having material things as the primary focus does not satisfy. No amount of material wealth is ever enough, there is never an end to greed, and it leads to twisted lives that are bound up in selfish concerns that blind us to God and the concerns of other people.
This verse is a key to release us from the never-ending toil of storing up earthly provisions, to free us from slavery to materialism and greed. It turns us away from the blindness of self-concern, to look to God’s guidance and calling on us, and to respond with compassion to the suffering of others.

When I was born, 60% of the world’s population lived in poverty, going to sleep at night without having had enough to eat each day. But due to the “Green Revolution” of the mid 20th century which gave huge increases in food production, that percentage was reduced to 10%. That was mainly due to the work of Norman Borlaug, for which he received the Nobel peace prize. Yet few people have heard of him, while most of us have heard of the doomsayer Paul Ehrlich and his book, The Population Bomb, which was printed at the same time the Green Revolution was occurring. Norman Borlaug’s response to seeing starvation during the Great Depression was not how to avoid that for himself, but his compassion led to a desire to alleviate starvation for all people.

The people I have known who ware truly contented had looked beyond our earthly concerns, to our deeper eternal needs. An elderly couple I knew from a previous church were an outstanding example of “putting first the kingdom of God”. His paid work had been ordinary, but all who met them received encouragement to boldly follow Jesus. Many people attended bible study in their home, and each time I visited I felt blessed.

Putting material concerns first is equivalent to choosing to live to work, rather than working to live. My choice was to work to live. While I provided a reasonable income to support my family, even more important was returning home early each evening to share in the joy of God-given responsibilities of family. And God has continued to equip me to do His will.

May we continue to seek to hear God’s calling on us, so that like Norman Borlaug, God can also equip us to do His perfect will.