But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

Matthew 6:33 

Christ emphasizes what matters most in life. His Sermon on the Mount is full of statements which run strongly counter to normal human thought. Having begun the section from which our text derives with, ‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal,’ He proceeds to tell His audience they cannot serve both God and money; they should not be anxious about their food and clothing, and they should trust God for the provision of all these things. He follows this counsel with the words before us, ‘but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.’  How is it we shall ‘seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness?’  Should we despise normal provision for the necessities of life? That is not His point. As He indicated in the beginning of the section, it is very much a matter of our attention and affection. It is what matters most to us that is at issue. To seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first is to address the matters of the spiritual and eternal as being most important. This will bring us to Christ first. He is the only Way for us to have the righteousness of God. He is the King of the Kingdom of God. When we begin there, the other more mundane matters assume their place of lesser priority.  

High King of heaven, 
we rejoice that You rule overall. 
We praise You that You have given to us the privilege 
of seeking Your kingdom first.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

Matthew 6:19-21 

Where is our heart? As Christ concludes His summary statement about what matters most, He remarks ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ He is using the word ‘heart’ as the seat of our affection and devotion. He is saying if we become preoccupied with the tangible and temporal, they will become that which holds our affection and devotion. By contrast, if we become preoccupied with the spiritual and the eternal, those things will hold our affection and devotion. By His Own example, Christ occupied Himself with the spiritual, and eternal. He went about doing good without even having so much as a place to permanently dwell. He busied Himself with the souls of others, lived for them and died for them. If He contrasted all the wealth of the world as being of less value than the soul, then what would be the value of many souls? All these souls are eternal. Therefore, to live to do good to all these people must be the highest purpose. As those treasured souls gather together in the eternal kingdom, Christ is in the midst of them. His heart is where His people are. They are His treasure. As we learn the imitation of Christ, we learn to treasure what He values. Our perspective changes as does our preoccupation. Our heart follows our treasure.  

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You value what is eternal. 
We praise You that the end result of that 
is our salvation.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  

Matthew 6:19-20 

What can we do to prepare for an eternal future? As Christ is preaching the Sermon on the Mount, He draws a distinction between the temporal and the eternal. He clearly delineates the difference between the earth, and that which is earthly, versus heaven and what will last for eternity. He says we should not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth. As we have said before, this does not exclude appropriate care for basic necessities, rather it aims at a preoccupation with accumulating what will never last and is subject to corruption and loss. He turns our attention to what is, as He terms it, ‘treasures in heaven,’ pointing out that those things are incorruptible and incapable of loss. What is this that is eternal and incorruptible?  Mark 8 gives us help in our understanding, ‘For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?’ At the bare minimum, our soul is eternal. In fact, as far as Christ is concerned, it is of more value that all the tangible, temporal things we can accumulate in this scene of time. This brings the value of our soul into stark contrast with the vast wealth of the earth. Therefore, if we want to view reality from Christ’s perspective, we will begin to view wealth, and our attention to the accumulation of it, in a totally different way than what is common in our society.  

Our Wise and Gracious Savior, 
we rejoice that You teach us what to value most. 
We praise You that as we learn to view things from Your perspective, 
we begin to see the eternal more clearly. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

In This Manner

In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

What use should we make of the Lord’s Prayer? We recite it in worship services. In some traditions it has become a part of the liturgy. As we consider it, we perhaps ought to dwell upon the fact that while the mere recitation of it serves a purpose, it is not necessarily the best use of it. Christ uses the phrase, ‘In this manner, therefore, pray.’ If we consider the implications of all the things upon which we have been meditating for the past days, we have to conclude that this prayer is full of potential for better use. Most of us do better with structure. The Lord’s Prayer provides an excellent outline for us to employ, in order for us to organize our prayers. If we begin with God, ‘Our Father in heaven,’ dwell upon His position, His power, and His glory, and proceed to pray along the lines of our relationship with Him, we are off to a good start. We may continue with all the thoughts that gather around the phrase, ‘Hallowed be Your name.’ We may then proceed to, ‘Your Kingdom come,’ and the rest of the prayer, phrase by phrase, to give order and structure to our praying. Whereas this is not the only correct way to pray, it does serve as an excellent model, which Christ Himself recommends. It will help give form and substance to our praying, and elevate the use of it above mere recitation. ‘In this manner, therefore pray, Our Father in heaven….’

‘Our Father in heaven,’ we rejoice that You are so good to us
as to help us organize our thoughts
as we approach Your Throne of Grace.
We praise You that You have sent Christ
to instruct us how to pray, that You might receive the glory.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning