Seeking God’s Kingdom And Righteousness

   Jesus said our number one duty is to seek “the kingdom of God and His righteousness”(Matthew 6:33). Establishing a right relationship with God and having Him reign over us involves numerous specific points, many of which the Bible tells us to “seek.”

For example, Jesus said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). Obeying our King takes effort and will not always be easy. Thus Paul wrote that eternal life will be given “to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality” (Romans 2:7).

Our Lord also criticized those who “receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God”(John 5:44). Men may not honor faithful service to Christ, but God will. The Hebrews writer said that God “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”(11:6).

Innumerable things compete for our attention. Paul taught that since “you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God”(Colossians 3:1). For all the allurements it offers, this world is not our home. People of faith have always known this and declared “plainly that they seek a homeland”(Hebrews 11:14).

As Paul wrote of the sin-ravaged condition of both Jews and Gentiles, he said, “There is none who seeks after God”(3:11). The same apostle told the philosophers in Athens “that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us”(Acts 17:27).  Are you seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness?

~Joe Slater