DAY 6
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
PRESS PAUSE: Before you do anything else, take a moment to reflect on and celebrate all the Lord did in you, for you, and spoke to you yesterday.
READ: Matthew 6:19-34
Provision is the act of providing and or supplying. As a child of God, we believe and know that God supplies the needs of his people; that He is faithful to provide for us - His children. His creation. After all, God is Jehovah-Jireh - Our Provider (Genesis 22:14).
Ask yourself these questions - “Is the God I worship and serve small or big? Can He provide all that I need?” Philippians 4:19 tells us, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” Clearly we serve a big God who can and does provide for us abundantly. Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves of the many ways He has provided for us already.
Physical provision: We enjoy these provisions daily without even taking notice as we:
Live our lives on this beautiful home called Earth.
Breathe in fresh air, which is constantly being replenished through the God ordained process of Photosynthesis.
Enjoy peaceful walks or peaceful moments just sitting outside and relaxing as we bask in the sun's warm rays.
Witness the ebb and flow of the tide thanks to the perfect placement and design of the Moon.
And our lives are sustained by the blessing of refreshing water and a literally buffet of delicious food options at our fingertips.
Spiritual provision: We see this provision in areas such as salvation, healing, deliverance, peace, joy, hope, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Though we may not have experienced each of these areas of spiritual provision in our own lives personally, we can absolutely see evidence of them all within the pages of scripture as well as in the lives of others around us.
The above lists lay out for us clearly the truth that everything that we have comes from God.
“And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?” 1 Corinthians 4:7
This scripture reminds us that He is the source of everything that we need. (He’s even better than Amazon!)
So that leaves us to ask ourselves this question - Do I live a life truly in need of all that God has to offer or do I live a life that only “needs” what I want?
We all have worried at some point about what we need. We fret over what we will eat, what we will wear, and how we will survive. Yet, in the midst of our anxiety, Jesus offers us a solution. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It may seem odd that Jesus says that when we need help, we are to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. What does that even mean?
Basically what the Lord is saying is, instead of worrying whether we are enough (or that we have enough) to take care of our needs that we are to, instead, acknowledge that God is our priority and the center of our lives. It means we should be lining up our hopes, desires, and ambitions with His will. It means we should acknowledge that He is sovereign over every aspect of our lives and we need to be willing to submit to His authority. You see, when we make seeking God’s kingdom a priority, we shape and live our lives towards righteousness and all the fruits of the Spirit. We begin to be like God in our thoughts, as well as in what we speak and what we do. We change our focus to having a deep relationship with our Father God.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this decision to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness above all else is a commitment. It requires us to focus on Him and His Word. We must be intentional and determined. However, as we seek His kingdom, we begin to experience His love and grace working in us in amazing ways.
Not only that, but Jesus’ instruction to seek God’s kingdom first is also accompanied by a promise of provision. He says, “and all these things will be given to you as well.” What are these “things” that Jesus speaks of? They are our daily needs—food, clothing, shelter, and everything we need to sustain us.
This promise of provision extends far beyond mere material necessities. It encompasses our whole life—the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects. When we sincerely seek God’s kingdom, He provides for all our needs.
Truly trusting in God’s provision requires faith—a deep trust in His goodness and faithfulness. It means letting go of our anxieties and worries and putting them into His hands, knowing that He loves us. It means letting go of our need to control everything.
After all of this talk about the Lord’s provision you might be asking yourself, “How does God provide for us?” His provision may come in a variety of different ways—through the generosity of others, through unexpected blessings, or through the fulfillment of our needs in ways we could never have imagined. God’s provision is not always immediate and it is not always in the way we expected, but it is always timely and sufficient.
Recently, one of our grandchildren was struggling with being bullied, both physically and emotionally, at school and we feared for his safety every day. His parents had exhausted every avenue with the school and administration. We were at a loss about how to protect him and were asking God to intervene. Unexpectedly, the Lord provided him with a partial scholarship to a Christian school and then a generous friend blessed him by stepping in to help pay for the balance. God provided in a way we did not expect and could not have done on our own. The provision of God was timely and sufficient.
It’s important to remember that God’s provision is not for us to be complacent or passive. We trust in His provision, but need to be diligent and responsible stewards of what He has given to us. We need to work and use our talents, gifts, and abilities to serve Him and others.
When we follow Christ, our lives should be committed to seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness. This commitment should permeate every priority, value, and decision. We are different. We will no longer measure our lives in terms of how much we possess or by the world’s standards, but by our obedience to the will of God. We will prioritize relationships over possessions, generosity over big bank accounts and service to others over our desires.
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus invites us into a new way of thinking and living—pursuing God’s kingdom and His righteousness. The result of seeking God above everything else is provision, knowing that He has promised to meet our needs if we follow His instructions.
As we read these scriptures, let’s ask God to help us trust Him to be our provision. Let’s be encouraged as we pray and read His Word, that we are being faithful to seek His kingdom and His righteousness and that God is faithful to supply all our needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
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