By Lance Mayes
Matthew 6:33 (NRSV)
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
It is so easy to get our priorities out of whack. It doesn’t take much for me to get off track — especially this time of year.
Too many times we put the emphasis on the last part of this verse “all these things will be given to you.” It’s difficult, isn’t it? We tend to spend most of our time worried about “all these things”. There is no peace in worrying about things.
Another danger is making this a magic formula: if we “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness”, then “all these things will be given to you as well”. Sounds a little like a prosperity gospel. There is no peace in looking and waiting to receive blessings from God when we’ve been so good.
The peace is found in “strive first for the Kingdom of God and his righteousness”. Period.
God’s ways are different from our ways. It is scary. We really need at least some of our things — food, shelter, clothing. God says not to worry about that. Focus to “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
That is where peace is found.