Seek First : So What Does Seeking First the Kingdom of God and Righteousness Mean?

October 28, 2024

A girl in a window reading Bible and wondering what does seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness means.














I have heard of this verse time and time again, " Seek FIRST  the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other stuff will be given back to you. "

At the time of hearing this, I wanted to see God really coming through for me as soon as possible. I wanted to see His hand of provision urgently. I had also heard of how you shouldn't use Him as a genie, an ATM machine to ran to when you only need something from Him.

We all know of a friend, who is not really a friend, who only reaches out when they need something from us. You rarely talk, they don't even know what has been going on with you, but the next time you hear from them is when they urgently need a favor from you. 

Deep in my heart, and also at the back of my head, I knew that that's not a relationship I wanted to have with God.

That is not how I wanted Him seeing me–a child, a friend, or a person who reaches out in prayer just to pull out some lists of requests, tick off the ones granted, and then remind Him of the ones He hasn't fulfilled yet.

And before she says Amen, she doesn't forget to add some new requests on top. Then poof! She immediately after leaves His presence in prayer as soon as she knows the list has reached his ear, into His bucket list of things to do. You know what I mean? The transactional form of relationship, one-sided at the core, with nothing to give back to Him. Nada!

I then one day sat and really thought about this verse. I saw how God with His love reached out to Man first by leaving His throne, (when we were still sinners and unbothered) to come and die for us because He wanted us back.

He wants us back into an intimate relationship with Him, as He had earlier wanted before the Fall. Sin and Satan had separated Man from Him. He knew He was our life force, and He had created us for a fellowship with Him. 

I came to realize that there was more about this God-thing, more about this Jesus, and more about this thing they call Christianity than what I knew it was all about.

Christianity and prayer wasn't just about making requests and reaching out to a 'Being Above' (as some view God) because we need something from Him. Christianity is a fellowship, an intimacy with our creator. It is a journey of knowing about Christ and walking with Him.

It is seeking Him, not just for our needs but primarily for a relationship with Him. It is seeking Him to be changed by Him, from the inside out, gradually conforming into His image and His Kingdom.

It is all about being acquainted with Him, being absorbed into His Kingdom's ways of operation (becoming citizens of His Kingdom) and into His righteousness.

But before all these, we need to understand that –

1. He Cares About Our Needs

It will be honestly wrong to think that He does not care at all about our needs. One think He made me realize is that my needs are so much important to Him as well. He is much more willing to grant all our requests, and as a loving Father, He is happy when we are okay.

Matthew 6:32 NLT: These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

He went out of His way to die for us in order to bring us back home to Him when we were lost. He chose the most cruel death just to have us back from the traps and chains of darkness.

As humans, it would be hard to find someone who can be selfless enough to go through all that for anyone's sake. I have had people before who told me that they could stretch themselves far and wide just to be there for me, but they could not actually keep up with their talk. That just ended up being an empty talk.

But we have the One who lived up to His promise, Jesus Christ. And if He went through all that for us, the Bible says that that should make us realize He can do much more for us. 

He went that extra mile to have us back into an intimate relationship with Him, and so what would make you think that He is not concerned about your needs? Needs here can be financial, emotional, physical, spiritual, I mean all manner of needs.

He loves you and is ready to see all your needs supplied according to His riches in glory. 

Philippians 4:19 NIV - And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.









Realizing that He is WILLING and ABLE to supply to all our needs is the first step towards knowing how to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.

But first things first, as a loving God who went a greater mile to have us back to Him, there is something He desires from us–

2. He Longs For Intimacy With Us

He wants to be your best friend.

He wants to be a person you reach out to in all circumstances, whether good, bad, or in-between.

He wants to know your joys, fears, anxieties, struggles, your pet peeves, I mean all the nitty-gritties. All the details. He wants to hear how excited you are because the deal came through. How that girl or boy makes you happy, but you are not sure if he/she is the right one for you. He longs to hear from you always about everything.

Like a loving Father or Friend, He wants to be in touch with your life–not because he is not aware of what's happening (He is All-knowing, anyway), but because it will be more intimate hearing these from you.

He is a friend who will not make you feel guilty over what you share. Rather, we receive healing when we pour onto Him. 

We get to exchange our weaknesses and struggles for His strengths. Be assured that this intimacy changes us for the better. 

There is a deep sense of fulfillment and healing that comes from being intimate with God.

He is a friend and a lover your soul craves for. You can be more intimate with Him with no fear of judgement because His perfect love expels all fear.

1 John 4:18 NLT - There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.







Begin today by whispering a prayer to Him about how you feel deep inside. Tell Him your goals, your concerns, your insecurities, everything. Be real with Him this time round, beyond the pretense, and seeing Him as if He was right there with you. Pour onto Him and watch Him pour back to you.

Seek to hear from Him also. Get to know Him as you would a friend by reading His Word today. Pray that He reveals Himself to you, so that you may know Him beyond the sensual imaginations–beyond what you have heard about Him. 

This has to get more personal. A personal encounter with your Creator and the Lover of your soul is what you want!

You should now know that–

3. There's More to This Kingdom Than Just Our Needs

As we seek first a relationship with Him, His Kingdom's way of operation and His righteousness, then we realize that OUR NEEDS ARE MET WHEN WE ARE ALREADY WALKING IN HIS PATH.

When we devote to let go of our selfish pursuits, a one-sided and transactional relationship with Jesus, then He leads us in a path where our needs will be automatically supplied.

He is a God who is rich in provision, who freely gives His children good things to enjoy. In our walk with Him, we get to start experiencing Him as our Rapha (healer), our Jireh (provider), Ebenezer  (helper), our sustainer, lifter, burden-bearer, name them.

At this point, we have lost ourselves in Him in order to find ourselves in Him. We have surrendered all to pursue Him–we're lost in Him to be found in Him.

Matthew 10:39 NLT - If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.





We realize that life stretches beyond 'Me', and that true living is forsaking the need to be selfish and to love Him and those around us. We let our lives become rooted in Him and in His love. This begins to change us from the inside to the outside, as we are gradually transformed into the image of Christ. This right there is a genuine transformation that is only found in a life rooted in Christ.

Here, we remain in Him, walk in His love, seek to know His ways and follow them, and then something happens. 

Our desires switch to be in sync with His desires. We come to reach a point where we know Him enough to believe that He fulfills our deepest longings and needs because He is a friend and a good, good Father. We understand how we are able to tap into His provisions for our needs because we are acquainted with His Word, His love and His friendship.

JOH 15:7 NLT - But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!






In His provisions, do you understand that–

4. He Does Abundantly Above What We Think Or Ask?

We are grateful because we know from His Word that He is rich, loving and glorious enough to supply to every thing we need more abundantly than how we expect Him to come through. He supplies what we need more extravagantly, thanks to His amazing love towards us.

Romans 8:32 NIV - He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?






There is this time I needed some quick financial fix to come out of a situation, which would later on have became compromising, if I didn't come up with a solution as soon as possible. I then remembered that I am a child of God, and that His will was for me to cast my burdens to Him for He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7).

From His Word, I realized that I was not on my own, and that the Kingdom way of living and His will is that Jesus becomes our burdens 'carrier. Mine was to trust Him with the situation by giving it to Him, believing that He cared enough and was able enough to come through for me.

I usually devote myself a lot to His Word because it is from it that I can know His will about every situation. I read several scriptures about what it really meant to trust Him with a situation. I then realized that once I gave something to Him in prayer, it was not longer in my hands but in His, under His care and responsibility.

I no longer needed to stress myself about what I has already given to Him.

Voices of unbelief tried to lie to my mind, but I remained firm in the Word and in His promise that after surrendering to Him, this situation was no longer in my hands but in His care. I decided to believe that Jesus was now taking care of that situation.

And my oh my, He really came through in ways which I couldn't imagine would be possible. He provided the finances, more than I needed to come out of that situation, and provided a way out of that situation. Mine was to have this child-like faith in His ability to deliver, and He certainly did.

This is just one of the ways I have seen Him coming through for me and exceeding my expectations.

Therefore, in every situation, we get into His Word to learn His will and what is expected of us. We learn how things operate in His Kingdom concerning a given situation or circumstance. We then seek Him, obey His instruction, trust in Him, and walk in His will. Surely, we will then see Him coming through for us, exceeding our expectations. Isn't He a faithful friend?

And so, you may ask–

5. What Exactly is Seeking First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness?

This is seeking Him first as a person, for He is the King in this Kingdom. As we learned, it is seeking to know Him personally as you would a friend or a spouse you really adore. Seeking Him also involves getting deeper and intimate with Him, and letting Him know you from the inside out.

It is allowing yourself to be transformed by Him, into an image that imitates Him. The more you hang out with a person, you gradually start behaving like them. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV - And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.











As you remain in Him, your desires change to match His, which will definitely be granted to you by the Father (John 15:7).

This also involves seeking His Kingdom and values. You seek the citizenship and membership to the Kingdom of God the same way you would seek the citizenship of a country. How?

You are pleased to be named as one of the children of God, saved by grace. This doesn't stop at the salvation prayer. You keep learning about the principles of this Kingdom under the help of the Holy Spirit and His Word. You can view the Word of God as the constitution or the instruction manual, detailing you on what life in Christ entails and how things are done over here.

This is how you really start living a fulfilled and purposeful life–by following His Word and the instruction of His precious Holy Spirit.

The good thing is that you are not alone in all this. There is the network of like-minded believers you can find in order to keep walking in this journey with. Pray to God to connect you with such, and He will be able to help you.

The righteousness of God is attained through Christ, because there is nothing we can do with our own efforts to earn ourselves the label 'righteous.' Only Jesus is righteous and perfect. Through salvation, He joined us to Him, washed us from our sins with His blood, and therefore made us righteous according to God's standards of righteousness. 

As the Bible says, we are the righteousness of God only by faith in Christ.

It doesn't stop there. Our faith into righteousness should also be practical through the help of His Spirit. Just as He has made us righteous, we keep walking in righteousness, doing what pleases Him, and walking in obedience to His Word and instructions. 

So, we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other things will be given to us.

Prayer

Dear Father,

I thank you for this knowledge and revelation about seeking You first, your Kingdom and righteousness first. I repent for the moments I felt that drawing to you entailed seeking what you have to offer, but not a deeper relationship with you, your Kingdom and righteousness. Forgive me, Lord.

Lord, draw me deeper into an intimate relationship with You. May I come into an encounter with you and a deeper revelation of your love towards me. May I be filled with Your presence in every moment, allowing Your love to transform me from the inside out. As I devote time to spend with You, may my heart and mind be shaped by Your image. I pray that you teach me to reflect Your character in my actions, words and thoughts, so that my life bears witness to Your goodness.

I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who guides me in learning and growing within Your Kingdom, its principles and values that guide my new life in you. Open my eyes to see, hear and understand You Word as the source of truth and instruction for my journey in Christ. Remind me that my righteousness does not come from my efforts, but from my faith in Christ. I receive the grace to live in a way that pleases You, rooted in righteousness of Christ in me.

I ask and receive Your guidance in connecting with a community of believers who will walk with me on this journey. 

Thank You for Your unfailing love and for the promise that as I seek You, I will find everything I truly need. I commit my heart and my desires to You, and I trust you with my desires and needs, and in your perfect plan for my life.

In Jesus name, I pray and believe.

Amen.







Share This Story

Tags:

You Might Also Like

0 comments

Follow Us on Pinterest

Theme Bible Verse