Thoughts for the Day

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness …        Matt 6:33

To pick up from yesterday, God is unique, there is none like Him and nothing against which He can be measured because He defines His own standard, and He is perfect: perfectly pure (holy) and perfectly good (righteous).  That term ‘righteous’ simply means that all His decisions are morally right.  It is part of His innate character; He cannot do anything morally wrong.  When God talks to Abraham about the imminent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham asks, ‘Will not the judge of all the earth do right?’  And the answer is that, of course, God will do right.  No wonder the Bible speaks so often of the need to act justly.

I previously described God’s love as running like a river through the whole Bible.  If I may add to the picture, I would suggest that His righteousness is a like a beacon that illuminates the whole journey.  The journey begins when there is no “wrongness” and ends when “wrongness” has been done away with.  And in between … well that is a paradox.  God’s righteousness exposes “wrongness” like light shining into darkness.  And, just as darkness no longer exists in the light, so too “wrongness” cannot exist in the presence of God’s righteousness.  It is one of those uncomfortable ‘black and white’ messages of the Bible, uncomfortable because the Bible also declares that we’ve all gone wrong.  Yet, God is also merciful, and through the paradox of His mercy provides a way through for us.

And so, to Jesus’ words for today.  In the midst of all our cares and worries, Jesus encourages us to prioritise seeking God’s kingdom and His … what would you have expected Jesus to add?  His love perhaps?  But no, His righteousness.  To seek and doubtless to find, wrestle with and treasure His righteousness.  Such was the priority of Jesus.