In a sermon on the same verse, Warfield writes:

How many think it would be unreasonable in God to put His service before their provision for themselves and family? How many of us who have been able to "risk" ourselves, do not think that we can "risk" our families in God's keeping? How subtle the temptations! But, here our Lord brushes them all away in the calm words, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Is this not a rebuke to our practical atheism?²

What a piercing question! Perhaps we have all been guilty of obeying the verse only to an extent (which is to say that we have been disobeying it); we have so many seemingly legitimate reservations. Of course it is our duty to provide for our families, and sometimes it pains us to see that they must do without certain things because of our service to the kingdom of God. It appears that even those of us who seem to measure up to the verse in many respects still fail when it comes to this point.

If yielding to it means disobeying God's command, then this is ultimately a carnal concern. Jesus does tell us to seek first the kingdom, and first means first. As Warfield observes, it is practical atheism to think "that we cannot trust God for our earthly prosperity but must bid Him wait until we make good our earthly fortunes before we can afford to turn to Him."³ Our Lord demands our attention now and not later, and he requires us to serve him continuously and not intermittently; he commands us to put him first every time.⁴

What is our ambition? Is it worldly or spiritual? Is it centered around the kingdom of God or our own little empire? As we have noticed, it is easy to "deceive yourselves" (James 1:22), and to think that you are a doer of this verse when you are only a hearer; it is easy to think that you are doing all that it says when you are falling far short of it. This is why we have spent this time trying to understand this verse better, and to unravel some of its implications for our lives.

Matthew Henry comments that obeying this verse means "making religion your business," and to "mind religion as your great and principle concern."⁵ Is this what you are doing? Is this what you are enforcing in your family? Does the way that you spend your money and your time suggest that you are "making religion your business"?

What are you teaching your children? Do you repeatedly tell them to study hard so that they will get good jobs in the future, or do you tell them to focus on developing biblical knowledge and character so that they will please and glorify God? Do you ever tell them to stop doing their homework to pray a while, to read a commentary, or to write a theological essay?

Again, we are not suggesting that our children should neglect their school work and other duties, but Jesus does say that we must seek first the kingdom, and first means first. We must believe that even the needed things concerning the children's education will be "added to them" if they will seek first the kingdom of God. In any case, there is no excuse for our children to know more about algebra than theology, or to know more about the theories of physics than Paul's message to the Romans.

Some parents have their children's academic career all planned out by the time they enter elementary school, if not way before that, but very few seem to plan out their theological training and character development in detail, so that they will become productive citizens of the kingdom of God.

But of course, parenting is not the only aspect of our lives that we need to be concerned about; we are using it only as an example, and as something that might expose our true priorities and concerns. We must examine every aspect of our lives to make sure that we are really seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

² Benjamin B. Warfield, Faith and Life (The Banner of Truth Trust, 1990), p. 46.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Of course, this is not an excuse to neglect our duties, for some people neglect both the kingdom and their families.
⁵ Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (Hendrickson Publishers, 2001), p. 1642.

(end of series)

Recommended:

Vincent Cheung, The Sermon on the Mount

Benjamin B. Warfield, "This- and Other-Worldliness," in Faith and Life

Posted in Expositions, Spirituality | Permanent Link