Seek First

In the middle of chaos, in the depths of heartbreak, and in the darkness of anxiety, we find an anchor in the Word of God. When I focus on His Word, His promises, His reality vs. my earthly circumstances, my heart beats in unison with His plan for me (and His plans for me are good, to give me a future and a hope Jer. 29:11). He promises that when we seek Him we shall surely find Him (Luke 11:10, Jer. 29:13). And when we find Him we find peace, joy, grace, mercy, kindness, goodness, and much more. 

As I studied Matthew 6:33 this week as part of our Online Bible Study, God continued to remind me that everything I need is found in Him.


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

"But seek for (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom, and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right], and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." AMP

"Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions...." The Message

"Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what He requires of you, and He will provide you with all the other things." GNB

We are commanded to let go of worldly cares and receive His divine care and provision. And to do this, we are told to seek Him first.

Let's get a deeper understanding of these two words by looking at some synonyms.

SEEK - try to find, search for, track down, dig for, probe for, investigate, explore, examine, inspect

When we consider these similar words we find that seeking involves more than just a few minutes of our time. In order to have a thorough investigation or examination we must invest one of our most precious commodities.

Seeking demands time spent.

And when we spend time with Jesus, we begin to know Him.

Seeking produces intimacy.

An intimate knowing. A discovering. A deeply personal union.

Not only are we to seek Him, but we are to seek Him first.

FIRST - foremost, leading, principal, main, prime, head, highest; basic fundamental, primary, beginning, starting point

God has to be our starting point.

When He becomes our beginning, our primary focus, the starting point of anything that we do or ask or seek, a shift occurs.

Seeking causes a shift:

• from carnal to spiritual
• from natural to supernatural
• from earthly to heavenly
• from temporal to eternal

When we seek first Him, His Kingdom, His righteousness...everything we have need of is counted as ours.

Maybe life has overwhelmed you this week or even this day. I, too, found myself overwhelmed and anxious over some things the last couple of days. But when I began seeking Him and bathing my mind, my heart, and my spirit in His Word, a shift occurred. Although my circumstances remained the same, my thoughts changed and I found peace and grace in the middle of my messy places. 

You can find it to.

Seek.

First.

There is nothing like His presence.  Make the choice to spend some moments alone with Him now. Your Father is waiting.

(Synonyms taken from Roget's Thesaurus 3rd Edition 1998)

********************
Joining with Melissa Taylor and a community of women as we seek God and His Word together in our current Online Bible Study: Stressed-Less Living by Tracie Miles. Click here to read more blogs in our blog hop.