Seeking God Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV 19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Treasure is about what you value. This is more than simply money; it involves the things that have worth to you. Your heart follows your treasure. If you love something or value it, you pursue and engage it. Matthew 6:22-23 NKJV 22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! This deals with vision, perception, preoccupation. Darkness leads to photosensitivity (the more you dwell in the dark, the harsher the light seems to be). Your perspective determines your health. Matthew 6:24 NKJV 24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You can only truly serve one master in your life. There is a temptation to serve mammon - worldly riches - instead of serving God. The master you love is the master that you will be loyal to. Relationship leads to obedience. If you love mammon, riches, then you will do what it takes to obtain them. The focus of your life becomes obtaining riches and amassing things. If you love God, then you will do what pleases Him. The focus of your life becomes doing His will 1
and knowing Him. Matthew 6:25-32 NKJV 25 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Consider the things that are being described here: food, clothes, appearance, things. Some would say that these are the things of life. We need food. We need clothes. And God knows we need all these things. But where does the value get placed? God places His value on you. He provides for the birds and the fields but considers you are more important. They do not worry; He takes care of them. They do not lack; He provides. And He considers you are more important. Therefore - because you can t serve two masters and can only truly serve one; choose to serve God. He is the one that places value on you and provides for you. Mammon is the one which causes anxiety and worry because of uncertainty and the need to work and scheme just to hopefully obtain these things. Matthew 6:33-34 NKJV 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. What Does It Mean to Seek First The primary focus of our life, and consequently the way we receive the things we need, needs to be 2
seeking God and His righteousness above all else. Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah uses two words to describe the same action. The first word is a verb which is also translated to mean demand, desire, eager, inquire, investigate, require, search, seek. 1 The second word, search, is also translated to mean seek, inquire, consult, find out, i.e., learn information not previously known; account for; look for; have a relationship; petition; ponder. 2 Basically seeking God is not just action but a focused, purposeful, thoughtful and diligent action. It is not random activity but an intentional process. The Kingdom of God The kingdom of God is the king s domain ; it is the place that God s authority is recognized and received. God created everything and has dominion over all things (cf. Psalms 24:1, Colossians 1:16-17). Jesus regularly declared (bore witness to) the kingdom. After He was filled with the Spirit and tempted by the devil, Jesus returned preaching that the kingdom was at hand ( Matthew 4:17). When He cast out demons by the Spirit of God He said that the kingdom of God has come upon you ( Matthew 12:28). When talking about salvation He talked about entering the kingdom of God ( Luke 18:25-26). He said that the kingdom of God would not be discernible outwardly or in a certain place but that the kingdom of God is within you ( Luke 17:21). A Hidden Treasure The kingdom of God is something that exists outside of us and is something that we have to enter into. Matthew 13:44 NKJV 3
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. The kingdom of heaven is like - not is, but like - a hidden treasure. It was there before the man found it. When the man found it, he hid it. We believe in our heart ( Romans 10:9-10); we hide God s word in our heart ( Psalms 119:11); the kingdom of God is within you ( Luke 17:21) The field is the gospel, the Word ( John 1:1-3; Romans 10:17) Joy accompanies finding the kingdom ( Psalms 51:12). He sells all he has to buy the field ( Luke 9:23-24). Salvation requires surrender. A Sought Out Treasure Matthew 13:45-46 NKJV 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. The merchant is seeking beautiful pearls. In this case the kingdom is not hidden but is awaiting discovery after deliberate seeking. This was the merchant s job (cf. Luke 2:49). His livelihood depended upon his seeking. Beautiful pearls. Pearls are rare and valuable; are developed over time 3 He found the one pearl of great price, through seeking To have the pearl of great price (treasure) he sold all that he had to buy it. Seeking First the Kingdom of God Seeking the kingdom is about making it our business to pursue God s authority and rule in our own lives, in every possible way. This is the priority of the believer. This is about relationship, not about time or place. This is about recognizing that God is good and desiring that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven ( Matthew 6:10). To do otherwise means to seek first your kingdom. It means to make your way a priority. Are you seeking God s kingdom or yours? His Righteousness 4
Not only are we supposed to seek God s kingdom but we are to seek His righteousness. Righteousness is a legal term dealing with moral and legal justice. 4 The problem with righteousness is that we can not attain it through any effort of our own. There is none righteous ( Romans 3:10). The Pharisees were those who thought that they could be righteous through their keeping the law; but Jesus revealed to them that the motives and intentions of the heart were what God was looking at (cf. Matthew 5:27-28). So if it is impossible to be righteous based upon our works, then what does it mean to seek God s righteousness? 2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Seeking the righteousness of God means to live dependent upon His grace. Abraham was considered righteous because He believed God, not because he kept God s law perfectly ( Romans 4:1-4). Neither was David nor Daniel nor anyone. Seeking the righteousness of God means believing and trusting God every day. Not just when you feel weak, tempted or powerless nor just when you feel holy and spiritual. It means depending on Him and trusting Him and being led by Him every day. Conclusion Matthew 6:33 NKJV But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first and everything will be added to you. This relationship with God, where you place His will first and depend on His grace is the way to happiness and holiness. 5
But to have this treasure, you have to sell all you have in surrender and make it your business to seek it with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 1. Robert L. Thomas, baqash, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition, 1998. 2. James Swanson, darash, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), 1997. 3. Gates of the heavenly city are pearl (Revelation 21:21). 4. Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, and Rebekah Hurst, Eds., Lexham Theological Wordbook, 2014. (dikaiosyn). n. fem. justice, righteousness. The quality of being in accordance with God s law. The Greek noun (dikaiosyn) refers both to moral righteousness and legal justice. Although (dikaiosyn) most commonly implies living in accordance with God s moral law, the focus of this section will be on its relationship to justice and justification. The noun dikaiosyn may refer to one s ability to follow the law (Matt 5:20; Phil 3:6). To judge in dikaiosyn is to judge equitably or mercifully (Acts 17:31; Rom 3:25). Paul asserts that dikaiosyn is the basis of justification, though it can be obtained by faith when there is an ignorance of the law (Rom 4:3 13, 22). To be convicted concerning dikaiosyn is to have one s ability to act in accordance with God s law evaluated in a legal proceeding (John 16:8). In several cases, lawlessness (, anomia) is used as an antonym to dikaiosyn (Rom 6:19; 2 Cor 6:14; Heb 1:9). 6