A Promise Of Provision
Did Jesus make a very clear promise of provision?
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
He stated this after talking about how the Gentiles are driven and make it their priority to seek after earthly things like shelter, food, and clothing.
Jesus is saying that choosing to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness will automatically bring these necessities into your life because, as the Psalmist stated, “I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken, nor their seed begging for bread.” God provides for His children.
But it is His kingdom (His rule and reign), and it is His righteousness, not a righteousness we manufacture by means of keeping rules that we are to seek.
Jesus said that unless someone is born again, they cannot even see the kingdom of God. Jesus also said that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and Sadducees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus is not saying that you will be righteous if you keep the law better than the Pharisees and Sadducees did. This statement involves obtaining righteousness from a better source than they had. The righteousness of the Pharisees and Sadducees was based on trusting in and keeping the law.
Jesus was speaking of a more powerful and reliable righteousness, God’s own righteousness.
Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments into just two. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the essence of the Ten Commandments given through Moses. No one ever kept them perfectly until Jesus came along.
Jesus loved God perfectly, even to the point of submitting Himself to the will of the Father by going to the cross. He also loved His neighbors perfectly, giving His life for them to pay for their sins and offer them redemption through His death on the cross. He did this for His neighbors’ past, present, and future. Jesus now lives in me, and I live in Him.
My hope, faith, and trust are in His obedience, not my own. I get to live a life of surrender to His rule and reign in my life and have the righteousness of God as my own through faith in Him. I fulfill loving God and my neighbors perfectly through my position in Jesus. Not that I get to ignore the practice in my flesh. However, I do not measure myself according to my flesh. My confidence comes from trusting in His obedience on my behalf. When I embrace and embody this faith life in Jesus, I get to enjoy the promise of provision that comes with it.
Everyone should honestly answer the simple question: Am I seeking His rule and reign and His righteousness in my life, or am I trying to make things happen with the strength of my flesh and resolve? The promise points us to Him, not ourselves. Guaranteed provision comes from seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.
