“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
MATTHEW 6:33
Every year people flock to climb certain mountains while other peaks nearby are virtually untouched. Why is that? Is Mount Everest or Mount Fuji or the Matterhorn or Kilimanjaro or Denali really so much better than any other summit? Certainly there are bragging rights in accomplishing a climb of “the greatest.” But why do we find it necessary to go along with the crowd? How often do we spend time and treasure pursuing what others have declared to be the best, whether or not it’s what we want?
Jesus knows the pride we display in being seen as the best or the greatest. He understands our hunger to acquire things and our tendency to find security in material possessions. In the Sermon on the Mount, He reminded His listeners not to worry about the everyday things of life but to look at the world around them. The birds, the flowers, and even the grass of the field are taken care of by Him. He already knows our needs. Instead of focusing on earthly treasures, we are instructed us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness.
This word righteousness appears more than five hundred times in the Old Testament and two hundred times in the New Testament. It concerns our ethical conduct. God is the source of all righteousness, and when we seek it, we are blessed.
So how do we cultivate righteousness in our life? The short answer is through faith. Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Galatians 3:6; see Romans 4:3; James 2:23; and Hebrews 11). The longer answer is that we must seek it out. Proverbs 2 promises that if we search for wisdom, we will understand righteousness, justice, and equity (vv. 1–9).