God’s Kingdom and Righteousness, Priority One

David W Palmer

Let’s come back to Jesus’s feet for today’s lesson from the greatest teacher, with the greatest content, and the greatest teaching technique … ever!

(Matthew 6:33–34 DKJV) “But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you as well. {34} Therefore, do not be distracted by anxious thoughts about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself; sufficient to each day is its own evil.”

I’m sure we all understand the phrase: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” But have we ever stopped to think about what a kingdom is, how it functions, and more importantly, how a king operates? If we understand this, then Jesus’s teaching on this pivotal priority will make much more sense.

First, a kingdom is simply the domain over which a king has dominion. (Notice the similarity between the words, “domain,” “dominion,” and the “dom” at the end of “kingdom.” A kingdom is simply a king’s domain—shortened to king-dom or kingdom.)

Second, how do kings reign? For example, do you ever see the queen of England in front of her palace fixing the roads herself, or taking to her enemies with a gun in the trenches of war? No, if she wants her roads fixed, she ensures the provision for the job and then simply issues a decree. In other words, she does it through her wealth and her words. This is also how she goes to war; she issues the orders, supplies the weapons, and provides for her troupes, etc. She declares war to protect herself, her family, her citizens, and her property—in short, her domain.

How does God reign over his kingdom? Exactly the same way as any king reigns: first, he establishes a covenant agreement with his subjects that confirms his reign over them and stipulates the terms, mutual expectations, and nature of the kingdom: he protects and supplies for his family, servants, soldiers, workers, envoys, etc.; and then he gives the edicts, commands, and decrees that call for the actions he wants from his subjects. So in short, God reigns by securing [his and his subjects’ roles in the kingdom], supplying, safeguarding, and speaking.

With this in mind, what does “seeking first his kingdom” look like for us? It implies that we seek to live in the conditions and terms of his covenant with us, and that we are constantly seeking to hear his orders, decrees, commands, and edicts, etc.—in other words, his words. Once in his kingdom by keeping our side of the covenant, we need to seek to hear from him as our top priority; and then simply trust that he will supply whatever we need to fulfill his assignment for us—whether that be sitting at his table, enjoying his secret place, or being deployed on a mission for him. In short, seeking God’s kingdom is seeking to hear him speak and trusting him implicitly to guide, provide, and protect us in fulfilling what he says.

(Matthew 6:33–34 DKJV) “But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness …”

What then is seeking first his “righteousness”? This is a very interesting and absorbing question. Righteousness is both right actions and right standing. For example, I would not enjoy right standing and unhindered fellowship with my wife if my actions weren’t right. In other words, if I don’t act married, I won’t enjoy the love, fellowship, and closeness of marriage. The same applies in our relationship with God; if we don’t seek and obtain his righteousness through faith in Jesus, we will not have the unhindered access he opened for us (See: Eph. 3:12, Heb. 10:19).

So whether you think of righteousness as right actions or right standing, its ultimate objective is always right standing.

Who then decides whether our actions are righteous, and how are they assessed? The Greek word and its root words imply that there is a measure—a standard—for righteous actions against which all actions are measured. Yes, it comes down to a visible comparison. This again implies that there are righteous actions for us to walk in. Everything we do will be compared to this prepared standard after we do them. The good news is that the prepared “works” to which God is calling us are already set, already righteous, and we can “see” them in advance:

(Ephesians 2:10 NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

This gives us a lot of hope; we don’t have to wait until we make mistakes, fall short of the mark, and then receive corrections about what we should have been doing. Instead, we can access the “works we are called to walk in” before we do them; we can “see” them with our King in advance of our deployment into them. Then, like Jesus, we simply imitate what we see in the Spirit. This is seeking first his righteousness—the actions he considers “right” for us, and which will give us right standing with him:

(John 5:19 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”

(Ephesians 5:1 AMP) “Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].”

Today, we have seen that seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness is simply seeking to know and live in our covenant with him—pressing in to hear him speak to us, and watching in the spirit to see what he wants us to do. It is also trusting in his protection and provision—something any sovereign monarch would do for his subjects, servants, workers, and troupes—let alone his immediate family.

I encourage you to make this your most pressing and important priority today and every day. And simply trust that God will “add” to you all the things you need. Praise the Lord!

(Matthew 4:4 NKJV) But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

(Matthew 6:33 DKJV) “But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you as well.”

(Ephesians 5:1 TPT) “Be imitators of God in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as his beloved sons and daughters.”