October 16, 2019
Who Is Your King?
Matthew 6:19–34
Brett Bruster
Central Truth
Either we are loyal to God and His kingdom, or we are loyal to Satan (the prince of this world) and his kingdom. There is no compromise. "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15b)
Key Verse | Matthew 6:33
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Matthew 6:19–34
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust 1 6:19 Or worm; also verse 20 destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 2 6:24 Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions
Do Not Be Anxious
25 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 3 6:27 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Dive Deeper | Matthew 6:19–34
Jesus tells us that the key to a life without lack is to seek the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is any place where what God wants done is done. I spent much of my life living in the "kingdom of me." I did what I wanted in an effort to seek happiness. What I failed to realize is that the kingdom of me was aligned with the kingdom of Satan. That kingdom is the one where what Satan wants is done. Satan wanted me to believe that trying to fulfill my own selfish desires was the key to a life without lack.
Jesus uses money (which is what many of us consider the key to a life without lack) to show that there is no middle ground between allegiance to other kingdoms and the kingdom of God. In essence, we align ourselves with God's kingdom, or we become His enemy. There is no middle ground.
I learned this lesson the hard way when I came home from a business trip 14 years ago, and my wife of 22 years told me she had had enough of my selfish ways and wanted a divorce. That night I had a dream. And in that dream, I was aboard a ship that was being destroyed by a storm. Suddenly, with total destruction imminent, God told me that I was not only losing everything I treasured because of the storm, but that I was the storm. My effort to seek a life without lack through my own selfishness was causing me to lose everything that was truly important.
That day I began what has now been a 14-year journey seeking God's kingdom first by aligning my life wholly with His will. Everything changed. Not so that life was easy, but so that it was indeed a life no longer lacking anything of true value. My life is no longer built on sand. I am committed to seeking God's kingdom first.
Postscript: My wife and I have now been married 36 years and are happier than we ever could have imagined. Thank God!
Discussion Questions
1. Is there a difference between your words and your actions when it comes to giving testimony to your true loyalties?
2. If those who know you best were to describe what you treasure most, what would they say?
3. What anxieties do you experience regularly? Do these anxieties give any indication about what your real treasures are?
4. It has been said that wherever your mind goes most naturally and freely when there is nothing else to distract it is what you really live for. What does your mind go to when not distracted by your normal activities?
5. What steps can you take today to seek God's kingdom as your first priority? If you don't know what steps to take, think about a couple of people mature in their faith in Christ whom you can ask for guidance.