Seek First the Kingdom
By M.T. Clark — P-2109 | 10/31/2026 – Today’s Audio Podcast
Today’s Message on YouTube:
Today’s photo of a quiet beach at the edge of calm turquoise waters, with sand underfoot and the horizon stretching away in the distance, comes to us from an anonymous Facebook friend who shared this tropical scene on social media back on June 29, 2021.
Well, it’s Saturday, and I share today’s photo to welcome us to the paradise of the weekend and to remind us to be thankful for the kindnesses that we receive from the people that God has put in our lives.
Today’s photo of an unknown beach came across my social media feed through a friend’s post a few years ago. I didn’t take this photo or visit this beach, but because a friend did and shared it, the Lord has used it to bring me some vicarious peace and joy.
The Lord uses other people’s small kindnesses to bless us more often than we realize. God arranges the photo that someone bothers to post, the text from an old friend at the right time, and the card in the mail from a church family we haven’t seen in years. None of these moments are random. They are all arranged by the Lord. Our Heavenly Father who sees in secret knows exactly what each of His children needs on any given morning, and He sends these kindnesses to us through other people, who often don’t even realize they are being used by God.
So, pay attention to the small gifts the Lord sends your way today. The message that shows up unexpectedly in your inbox or a post in your social media feed may be the kindness that you are going to need before the day is done. And while we are at it, let’s send one of our own. Share a photo, a verse, or a short note to someone the Lord brings to mind. God can use the small acts of His children to provide for our needs, and on any given day, we might be the one receiving or the one sending. Speaking of the Lord’s provision for us…
Our series “The Beatitudes” continues today with the culmination of Jesus’s teaching on worry. After the birds and the lilies, Jesus gives us the practical instruction for the disciple’s path. We seek His kingdom first, and we let the Lord take care of tomorrow.
Seek First the Kingdom
Jesus closes his teaching on worry with divinely inspired advice. In Matthew 6:31-34 (NKJV), Jesus tells us:
“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. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Jesus first presents the alternative to His teaching, which is what the rest of the world is already doing. The Gentiles seek these things. The world around us is set upon the pursuit of what we will eat, what we will drink, and what we will wear. These were the main worries of the ancient world, and they are still the main worries of the modern world. The specific things we worry about may have changed a little bit, but the categories haven’t. Jesus is telling His people that anxiously chasing after our physical needs is not what we were made for. That is what people who have no Heavenly Father to trust in will spend their lives doing.
Jesus goes further. The Father knows that we need these things. He is not surprised by our basic needs. He is not finding out at the last minute that His children have to eat. He has already seen the end of the week, the end of the year, and the end of our lives, and He already knows every bill, every hunger, and every need we are going to face. Our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need, and He is already prepared to provide for us.
Then Jesus gives us the instruction that makes all the difference. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The verb “seek” here is active and ongoing. It is a seeking that we make the first priority of our life. Before anything else gets our attention, we are to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness.
The kingdom of God is the realm where the Lord reigns. We seek it by praying for it to come, by living under its rules, by obeying its King, and by caring about what He cares about. We seek His righteousness by letting Him transform us from the inside and by walking in His ways as He teaches us.
Jesus gives us the promise. All these things shall be added to you. He does not promise luxury. He does not promise wealth. He promises what we actually need, when we actually need it, and in the amount that is enough for the day. God has been faithful to provide for His children throughout all of history. He has not run out of resources, and He will not start running out with us.
Jesus closes the whole teaching with one more line. Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. The grace that the Lord gives is daily grace. He does not pour out the whole year’s grace on us at once. He gives us what we need for today, and when tomorrow comes, He will give us what we need for tomorrow. Worrying about tomorrow is reaching for a grace that God has not sent yet, because we don’t need it yet. We only have to walk with the Lord today.
So how should this change the way we live?
For most of us, it means getting honest about where our attention has been going and deciding to make a hard turn toward God’s kingdom. If we have spent the week scrolling to see how the world looks today, we may be chasing what the Gentiles chase. Jesus is calling us to a daily, deliberate turn of attention toward His kingdom, His righteousness, and the daily bread He has for us today. We are to be faithful to do our part in following Him and to trust that the Lord will take care of the rest.
Every step toward God’s kingdom is a step in the right direction. So, keep on walking and talking with God.
— M.T.
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
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