Seek First the Kingdom of God
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." — Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
Introduction
Imagine you get in your car, turn on the GPS, and start driving — but without ever setting a destination. The device doesn't guide you; it only tracks where you are. A lot of us live exactly like that: constantly in motion, busy, worn out, but without a defined route. We reach the end of the day, the week, the year, and we ask ourselves: Where am I actually going?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks directly to people who were in precisely that situation — anxious about food, clothing, and tomorrow. And His response isn't a list of practical solutions. It's a life-ordering principle: seek first what is first. Before everything else, set the right route.
This is the first of five sermons on priorities in the Kingdom of God. Today we begin with the foundation: what it means to place the Kingdom of God at the absolute center of our existence, and what happens when we do — or when we don't.
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1. The Problem: We're Living in Reverse
The context of Matthew 6 is telling. Jesus observes men and women consumed by worry over what to eat, what to drink, what to wear. These weren't lazy or frivolous people — they were real people with real responsibilities. But Jesus identifies the problem with surgical precision: they were seeking things first, not the Kingdom.
This reversal is subtle and dangerous. It's not that material needs are wrong — God knows we have them (v. 32). The problem is the order. When our livelihood, our career, social recognition, or financial security takes the top spot on our daily agenda, the Kingdom of God gets pushed to the margins: maybe Sunday morning, maybe a quick prayer before bed.
Try this honest exercise: look at your schedule for this week. Where is your time with God? Where is service to others? Where is reading Scripture? If the Kingdom shows up only in the leftover scraps of your time, you already have your answer about your real priorities — not the ones you declare, but the ones you actually live.
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2. The Invitation: Seeking Is a Deliberate Act
The Greek word used here — zēteō — doesn't describe a passive wish. It means to actively pursue, to investigate, to strive to find. It's the posture of someone who has lost something precious and won't rest until they find it (like the parable of the lost coin, Luke 15). Jesus doesn't say "think about the Kingdom" or "appreciate the Kingdom" — He says seek.
This means that making the Kingdom a priority doesn't happen by accident. It doesn't arise naturally out of the fast pace of modern life. It has to be a decision made in the morning, before your eyes are fully open. It has to be a structure built with intention: a set time with God, a faith community where you are fed and where you serve, a constant awareness of God's presence in the everyday decisions of life.
The righteousness mentioned in the verse — "and his righteousness" — deepens the invitation. We're not just seeking the benefits of the Kingdom; we're seeking the character of the King. We want to be just as He is just, merciful as He is merciful. Seeking the Kingdom means seeking transformation from the inside out, not just a rearrangement of our schedule.
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3. The Promise: God Provides What Is Lacking
And then comes that phrase which must be read carefully, without turning it into a prosperity formula: "and all these things will be added to you." Jesus isn't saying that our rule-keeping will be rewarded with wealth. He's saying that those who live centered on the Father discover that the Father takes care of His children.
It's the same logic as the birds of the air and the lilies of the field (vv. 26–29): if God sustains what neither prays nor labors, how much more will He care for those who seek Him with their whole heart? The promise doesn't remove human effort — it removes anxiety. There is an enormous difference between working responsibly and living consumed by the dread that everything might fall apart.
When the Kingdom comes first, our relationship with "all these things" changes completely. We go from being slaves to our needs to being stewards of God's resources. We receive with gratitude, give with generosity, and lose fewer nights of sleep over what we don't yet have.
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Conclusion
This week, before any other decision, ask yourself one simple but powerful question: "Am I seeking the Kingdom first, or am I fitting the Kingdom into what I've already decided?" The difference between those two postures is the difference between a life built on rock and a life built on sand.
Jesus' invitation is clear and full of grace: set the right route. Not as a burden, but as a liberation. When the Center is right, everything else falls into its proper place.
Challenge for this week: Choose a set time each day — in the morning, before anything else — to pray and read Scripture. Just fifteen minutes. Begin to seek first, deliberately. And watch what God adds.
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Closing Prayer
Lord, forgive us for the times we have given You the leftovers of our time and energy. Teach us to seek You first — not out of obligation, but because we recognize that You are everything. May Your Kingdom be our route, today and always. Amen.
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