Seek First The Kingdom Of God
Before my father died, I asked him what had been his life verse. What I meant by this was, what verse had been the focus of his life. He was quick to quote Matthew 6.33, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” As I reflected on his life, I can truly say that my father lived this way. He was a blessed man, because God was #1 in his life.
Some people have asked me what does, “seek first”, really mean? Let us look at this together. First has two means. First, its meaning is chronological. It is first in a series of other options. To seek God first is to seek Him in the morning. To seek Him before you do other things. The morning my father-in-law died he had just finished returning home from “walking with the Lord” along the canal behind his house. It was his practice to spend the first of his day with the Lord in this pristine setting. As he came into the yard, he lay down and went to be with the Lord. He had a piece of paper in his hand. It was a poem by Ralph Cushman that he was memorizing. The first part begins this way:
I met God in the morning
When my day was at its best,
And His Presence came like sunrise
Like a glory in my breast
My father-in-law as well as my father learned that the secret of a blessed life was to seek God first…in the morning…before other activities, concerns or people would crowd Him out.
The second meaning of “first” is qualitative. It is first as meaning “best”. To seek God first is to give Him our best. This is in regard to time, attention, priority, love and relationship. Nothing and no one is to be of more importance than our relationship with God. When He is first, then everything and everyone else fall into place. Idolatry results when this is not the case. This poem’s final verse is good lesson for us today.
So I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way;
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day
Scriptures to meditate on: Mat. 6.33; Rev. 2.4; Is. 44.6;Psalms 50.23