HIS IS THE FIRST

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).

I want to encourage you to practice seeking God first in all things. David in Psalms 63:1 said, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee". As it were, he was saying that he would seek the Lord early in the year, early in the day, early on the project at hand. David would not wait till later in the year when things are almost getting out of control before seeking the Lord. Concerning the project he was engaged in, he would not wait until he got to a mid sea situation when the enemy is buffeting him before seeking the Lord. He would rather seek the Lord from the very beginning so that he could receive strength and direction for the rest of the journey. That is great wisdom, for God knows the end from the beginning.

In our Bible verse for today, Jesus urges us to place God, His Kingdom and His righteousness above and before temporal blessings (like food and clothing). Remember that the verse starts with a 'But'. It all began in verse twenty-five. The whole essence of Jesus' teaching in this passage is that seeking God must take priority over seeking things. Don't forget that there is an assurance that God rewards those who seek Him.

A good illustration would be that of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah who sought the Lord early in his reign. God rewarded him immensely, first by establishing his kingdom and securing his reign. God brought him into favour with people and everyone around him were seeking him with all kinds of gifts. In Jehoshaphat, we can confirm the truth that if you seek the Lord, men would seek you.

God also gave him peace all round, for the Bible says that "the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat" (2Chronicles 17:10). And when much later a group of three nations besieged Judah to make war with Jehoshaphat, God defended and delivered him, giving His people supernatural victory.

Finally, because Jehoshaphat sought the Lord early, God prospered him exceedingly, giving him riches, wealth and honour in abundance. He had unusual business sense and mercantile understanding which fetched him
tremendous profit.