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The Order of Operations
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“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33
In Matthew 6, Jesus is talking about the needs that we have in life and our worry about how we will get the things that we need. He says in 6:25, “Do not worry about your life, what you will or what you will drink, or your body, what you will put on.” In verse 26, Jesus reminds us of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field and how God provides for each of them and asks the question, “Are you not of more value than them?” Verse 27, He asks, “Who by worrying can add a cubit to their stature?” Our natural reaction is to worry. But Jesus has outlined a few things through these passages:
- There is an order of operations (6:33): Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. What or who is His righteousness? Jesus. Hebrews 12:2: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith… We have to seek Jesus above anything else. And that doesn’t necessarily mean just prayer. We need to seek Him daily through a relationship with Him. The more we study, the more we lean on Christ, and the more we trust Him, the more peace we’re going to experience in our lives. When these worries and anxieties come up, we know where our strength comes from and we know who is in control and that’s Jesus.
- We are valuable to God (6:26): Jesus asks if we are more valuable than the birds and the flowers. Remember, God made mankind in His image. He didn’t make flowers and birds in His image. We are valuable to God and He sees us as His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). What does that mean? The NLT says, “We are His masterpiece.” We are valuable to God.
- Worrying doesn’t produce anything (6:27): What good does worrying do? Jesus says it doesn’t add a cubit to your stature. Worrying doesn’t produce anything beneficial. Instead, Philippians 4:6 (NLT) says, “Do not worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.” Instead of worrying, we need to take everything to God in prayer and also thank Him for what He has done in our lives. Thanking Him for what He has done reminds us that He does provide and reassures us when we start to worry.
As Christians, we have to learn to lean on God for our daily anxieties and worries. If not, worry sets in, anxiety, grumpiness, stress, being overwhelmed starts to dominate us. Our jobs aren’t easy and if we don’t lean on Jesus, then we won’t be able to stand the way He wants us to stand up for Him.