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But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ~Matt. 6:33, ESV

Quick Sip

I’m constantly anxious. Anxious about where we would move next. Anxious about Ethan never being fully potty trained. Anxious about parenting “right.” Anxious about….you name it. However, reading Matthew 6 recently opened my eyes to the root of this problem and the others described in the chapter.

In this chapter, Jesus addresses several problems. He talks about giving, praying, fasting, laying up treasures, and being anxious. Through this discussion, I saw that Jesus seems to be developing the idea of where our focus lies. Addressing the first three he says, “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:4, 6, and 18, ESV).  Thus saying, you shouldn’t look for praise from man but praise from God.

Then he develops his point further by showing that your heart goes where you place your focus and that you can’t focus on two things at once. He says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…you cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:19 and 24b, ESV).  And finally on anxiety He begins his conclusion with, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, ESV). This is where he leaves no doubt about his topic. Jesus is saying, focus on God and everything else–the praise you seek, the treasure you desire, and thins you need–will fall into place.

Jesus knew that when we focused on him, everything else fades aways. We are no longer concerned with what the world thinks. We put less value on the physical things surrounding us, and we begin to trust Him more. Maybe that’s why He also includes the verses addressing our sight in the middle of the chapter. He says,

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, you whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matt. 6:22-23)

In other words, if your focus is on the world and the things in it, your eye isn’t healthy, and it’s full of darkness. But if you look to Jesus the true Light (John 1:4-5), then your body and your life will be full of light.

So where is your focus today? Are you focused on the things of the world and scrambling around in the darkness? Or are you focused on the Light?

Full Cup

For further study read…

Matthew 6
I didn’t address it above, but how does the Jesus also address our focus in the Lord’s Prayer?
When we are stressed, where else does Jesus tell us to focus instead in verse 26?

John 1:1-18
What are some of the benefits we receive when we focus on the Light?