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Seek First the Kingdom of God - The Pursuit of God

2 Timothy 2:22 – “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

            In Matthew 6:33 Jesus instructed us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.”  What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God?  In Joshua 14:8 we learn that Caleb “wholly followed the Lord.”  Andrew Murray writes, “God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.”

To seek the kingdom of God first is to pursue Him in relationship.  In Philippians 3:10 the Apostle Paul gives a glimpse into his pursuit of God, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”   To pursue is to seek, search for, to hunt, and to persist in that search.

Many are pursuing happiness. They are seeking to have their needs met. Are you seeking for success and significance? The scriptures teach that we have our needs met when we make the pursuit of God a priority in our lives.  The words of Jesus are recorded in Matthew 6:31-32, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ‘For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.’”

We have the following promises from the Word of God when we pursue our relationship with the Lord:
  • Psalms 37:4 – “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
  • Psalms 37:5 – “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.”
  • Jeremiah 29:12-13 – “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

These scriptures give instructions on what it means to pursue God in relationship.  Delight yourself in the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, call upon Him and search for Him with all your heart.  What happens when we pursue God in relationship?  He gives us the desires of our hearts, He brings His word to pass in our lives, and we find the One that we were seeking for. 





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