JESUS winds up his teaching on worry and being overcome by the world by speaking of the antidote to worry. Worry causes us to concentrate our thoughts exclusively on that problem or difficulty which we are anxious over. If we are worried about how we are going to feed ourselves and our family, then all our concentration is upon this problem. Worry is like a dog with a bone. Worry can?t let go of the problem to the exclusion of all else. How do we break free?

For those who are not Christians there is no real answer, except to turn our thoughts to something else, but this does not solve the problem because the problem is still there, though temporarily forgotten. Only the Christian has an answer, and Jesus gives it to us in these two verses. Jesus says seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, then you will not have to worry because God will see that you are provided for.

There are two things here. The first is to make it our first priority to know God. The second is to live for God today, and leave tomorrow in God?s hands.

The more we get to know God and his righteousness, the more confident we shall be to trust him in all things, and the more we will be sure of his power and goodness towards us.

God says seek his kingdom. His kingdom is the heavenly and spiritual kingdom where God is. To seek his kingdom is to centre our lives on living each day for him and doing his will. To seek his kingdom is to earnestly seek to know God through the means he has given for this purpose - that is through study and meditation in the Bible, through prayer, through worship, and through fellowship with other believers in discussing the things of God. Getting to know God in this way will mean that we have greater love for him, and greater confidence in him. Getting to know God like this will mean that our thinking and feeling will be changed in the mind of God, and the many things in the world we worry about will be seen in perspective, and relatively unimportant compared with knowing God.

The importance of this is because the things of God are eternal whereas the things of the earth are only temporal and fading. The importance of this is also because the things of God satisfy the soul, whereas the things of this life only give temporary solace.

Then Jesus says we must seek his righteousness. What does this mean? Here is the heart of Christian living. Seeking his righteousness is first and foremost to seek the righteousness of God which comes through the Gospel, and which Christ has worked for us and provided for us. At the heart of the comfort of a sure faith is to understand more fully day by day the greatness of our security in Christ which the imputing of Christ?s righteousness to us brings to us. Then to seek his righteousness imputed to us is to appreciate the tremendous cost that God went to, and Jesus accepted, for us to be redeemed and saved and made heirs of his kingdom. These days there is almost a conspiracy to think little of this. We do not seek his righteousness and so we have little appreciation of God?s great love for us. If he has given so much for us to provide this righteousness, by which he can accept us and makes us his children, then he will never, never, allow all this great sacrifice go to waste; nor will he ever cease loving us. If he has provided for our souls in this way, he will provide for everything that follows. He that spared not his Son, but gave him up for us, how will he not with Christ freely give us all things.

So let us give ourselves to seeking God?s kingdom and his righteousness in this way, and we cannot fail to grow in faith and confidence in God, so expelling worry.

From this seeking his righteousness we go on to seeking his righteousness in our living so that we please him. This builds up our confidence for we shall by this means dwell in God and God in us, and so in communion with God, that is ever deepening, we shall be filled with the sureness of his care and provision for us.

So we come to the other point which Jesus makes. Live for today says Jesus. Leave tomorrow in God?s hands.

This seeking His kingdom and his righteousness does not mean that we need not be responsible and sensible in ordering our daily lives for living in this world. We have to do the daily round and common task. It is right to make provision for the future, and plan for the future, but when we have done all that we can, we leave the rest to God. Further in our making provision, and in our planning, we do it in the presence of God, looking to him for his wisdom and guidance. Then when we have done all we can, we leave the outcome to God.

Living for today means that we enjoy today in the life God has given us, confident of this that we are in the hands of our heavenly Father, and so tomorrow can take care of itself because it is in the hands of God.