- The common scripture for Seeking the kingdom of God would be our Bible text for the article.
Matthew 6 vs 25 to 33
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.The scripture above is not new to us, we’ve heard different topics on this same passage but our eyes will be opened again.You see, it’s not how many times we read the scripture that counts or that determines our Life.Rather, it is the day that light comes that we can lay hold on the life in the Word.
Jesus was teaching His disciples on the Mount on seeking the kingdom of God, this is one of the deepest teachings of Christ.Let’s take each verse.
Vs 25, Jesus started with a controversial statement “Take no thought for thy life…”In order words, Jesus was saying, do not bother about your life.This is the root of all human actions – Life.
Paul calls it the affairs of this world
All the things we do today are functions of having a better (physical) life.The first point to note is that, we must not focus on our lives.You hear people do say, my life, this is my life etc.If I were to ask you, why you do what you do, you discover that it’s all to have a better life.
Many think more of their life than God today.
And so Jesus said the first thing to note is that, we must lose focus of our life especially as believers (this will be explained as we continue in this series)
3 Basic Needs of Life
He went further to classify the cares of this life..
1. What you shall eat
2. What you shall drink
3. What you shall wear
Reflective Questions
Let me ask us, is there anything people desire that differs from these?Why do you work?
Answer will be to make money
Then why do you need money?Answer will be those 3 things highlighted there.
If you could know a way how you could get these things without money, will you still look for money?
The answer will be No.
It’s still introduction
Jesus said something very striking in that same verse 25.
He said, Life is more than Food and The Body is more than Clothing. Powerful Statement from Jesus there. It means there is more to life that I’m pursuing which is seeking the kingdom of God.
Brother there is more to your life than making money.
Sister there is more to your life than looking Good and getting married.
There is more to my life. Oh you must understand this statement.There is More to Life….The World system has given us a template of how life should be, there is a cycle that this world has provided.
Elton John circle of life lyrics composed of these things:
Grow up, go to school, get a job, marry, give birth, buy cars and build house and then Die. This world system has brainwashed us to what we think life is and hence we keep struggling to get things.
Christian Lifestyle From The Bible
But Jesus is introducing a new System,a new template which is the Jesus is saying, when we understand that there’s more to our lives and as we press to discover that more, we get other things as well verse, 33, Jesus finally showed us “the more” that there is to life.
So seeking His Kingdom is the More while all other things are the Less.
So Jesus is giving us a formular that if we can get the More, then the Less will be Added as well but if we keep pursuing the less, we won’t get the more.
Seeking The Kingdom Of God Formula
Let me share this story with us.A king once asked his friend to request for anything from him and it will be granted to him. So the King’s friend thought within himself, if I ask for the post of a general, it will be given to me but I won’t have access to the King’s properties and if I ask for the King’s properties, I won’t become the general so after some time, he decided to look for how he can get all these things in one request and so he told the king, All I need is your daughter as my wife. Because, marrying the King’s daughter automatically makes him the general, have access to the King’s properties and all other benefits will be added. This same is what Jesus says here.His kingdom is the King’s daughter and once we get it, all other things that we desire will be added without we making request for them.
It’s a formular.
So it means Jesus was not condemning those things, what to eat, drink and wear rather He’s showing us a better way to getting those things cheaply and easily. So our focus must be shifted from this Life to His Kingdom…He knows we need food to eat, we need water to drink, we need clothes to wear, house to stay, car to ride etc but He’s saying this is how we get them – Kingdom.
He knows that as student you need success in your exams but He’s saying the success you seek is in the kingdom not outside it.
Christianity is a call into a kingdom, we have been called into God’s kingdom, we are citizens there and so whatever we need is in the kingdom and should be gotten there. The problem is that many of us wants to get this things outside the kingdom and then we will now bring it into the kingdom which cannot work. This is what happens when a Christian sister leaves Zion to go to Babylon to get a husband, she now hope of bringing the man to church so that he will change… Error
Everything we get must have kingdom attached to it.
Kingdom husband, kingdom wife, kingdom job, kingdom certificate, kingdom wealth, kingdom friends, kingdom food, kingdom songs, kingdom wears, everything must be kingdom based and focus not Life.
When you focus on This Life, you will only be concerned with making money and not how you make the money.
When you’re kingdom focused, you will rather not marry than marry outside the kingdom. You will rather be jobless than get job outside the kingdom
Gospels in the Bible
how many gospels are in the bible?There are 4 Gospels as recorded in the Bible. These gospels teaches us mainly on seeking the kingdom of God. They are:
1. Gospel of Matthew.
2. Gospel of Mark.
3. Gospels of Luke.
4. Gospels of John.
They are the Gospel of Salvation which brings us into the kingdom.But if you look at John 3, Jesus said Except a man be born again, He cannot see the Kingdom.
But much more than seeing the kingdom, He went further to say Except you are born of Water and Spirit you cannot Enter the Kingdom you’ve seen.
What does that mean…
Seeing the Kingdom and Entering the Kingdom.
Seeing the kingdom of God means being aware of the possibilities in the kingdom, like when you read the bible you see it written, I am the head and not tail, I am blessed, divine health is mine etc
But Entering it now means having the Experience of what you’ve seen
And that’s another Gospel called The gospel of the Kingdom
Soon we shall consider the Gospel of the Kingdom and we will look into the Kingdom Life. The Concern of God is about His Kingdom.
God has no business giving attention to things and situations that will not promote or display His kingdom.
And that’s why everything captured in the bible today has a link with God’s kingdom.
Many other things happened then but they were not captured as they have no effect on God’s interest. And this is the secret to relevance in God’s scheme.
If a man live for hundred years and everything the man did has no effect in promoting God’s kingdom such a person has not lived, such a person is as dust before God and that’s why we must seek our lives to be centered around the kingdom.
So we must be actively seeking the kingdom of God.
You see many of us are yet to know what God is really interested in…We often say that Evangelism is the heart beat of God but we don’t understand why.
What’s Salvation?
Salvation simply is the process of bringing more people into God’s kingdom to become citizens.
So The Interest of God is Kingdom.. Salvation is a means to achieving that. That’s why God is not just interested in People being saved but also they must be taught and learn the ways of the kingdom throughh seeking it.
That’s why in Matthew 3:2, Jesus first preaching was on the kingdom.He says Repent!
Why? Because God’s kingdom is near. That means its a waste when people are saved but they don’t live the kingdom life.Hmmmm….We have many saved souls without kingdom life today That’s why we must understand the kingdom life. The government of God has never been Democracy rather Kingdom.God is so interested in a civilization that’s solely governed by Him. And so, it’s not enough to be saved. We must not atop seeking the kingdom of God with our whole heart.
Let’s quickly look at Kingdom
What is a kingdom of God?
The word kingdom is gotten from two root words
1. King
2. Domain
It therefore means A kingdom is a domain governed or ruled by a king.
Parts of a kingdom
There are 3 main parts in a kingdom
1. The Land or space (Domain)
2. The Ruler (the King)
3. The Subjects (Citizens)A territory with a king and void of people is yet to be a kingdom.
There must be people that are being governed. One feature of kingdom is that the King dominates the kingdom. That’s, the people live, eat, dress, work and do all things for the king because in doing so, they are getting their own daily means. For instance, no citizen can claim to be owners of any land. All the lands belongs to the King and He can decide who to give. This is what God wants to establish in the midst of men. A territory where everyone is under His influence and they all submit to Him. You see why God is interested in Kingdom.Now anyone that wants to go against the King is called a rebel and that’s exactly what happened to lucifer.In Kingdom, the people are taught the ways of the land, they have their culture. Every tribe are identified by their cultures. So also we have Kingdom culture, the way we eat, talk, live, dress, we even have our greeting, our dress codes even our currency. Living this is how we are identified.
Seeking The Kingdom of God Rightly
Jesus says by this shall all men know that you’re part of this kingdom, He says when you show love one to another. Our culture is summarized in Love. Let’s leave that for now and focus on seeking thE kingdom fo God.
Ask yourself this question tonight…
Have I been living for the King or for myself or someone else?
Check your answers with how you talk, how you dress, how you live, your values and what you believe…You see, we can’t just talk the way you want because we have mouth.We just can’t dress the way we like.When people argue about dressing, I just smile and see ignorant people. The question is not does this cloth fit me or not or is it bad or this is what I feel like wearing. The question should be, is this dress code bringing glory to the King?
Am I compliant with the King’s dress code? That should be the question.In kingdom life, we are not in bondage but we are not free as well. Not in bondage because Christ has set us free from the bondage of sin and Satan.Not free because we are dead and as such we are not living for ourselves.
Our living is calculated and regulated.
Hmmmm….
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God ‘s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.1Pet. 2:9
The scripture above shows us what the kingdom life is all about. It says, we are called to set forth the wonderful deeds and to display the virtues of the King (paraphrased).We have not been called to live for ourselves rather to live for the king that’s when our lives, our salvation and existence counts.
SOMEONE IS ALREADY HAVING A MINDSHIFT.
I PRAY, MAY OUR LIVES BE LIVED FOR JESUS IN JESUS NAME, AMEN.
I hope yo u learnt much about seeking the kingdom of God.
Reflective Questions What is the difference between seeking the kingdom and entering the kingdom?SURE YOU’RE BLESSED.
Samuel Obunikem is the President of an inter denominational ministry with the mandate of translating people from darkness to Light.He is a young man from Rivers State, Nigeria and a graduate of Mathematics from the Federal University Oye-Ekiti.His passion is to raise a generation that will live like Christ both in word and in deed.He is a teacher of God’s word, an academician, a lover of God and an author.
Source isikaemmanuel
