How do you seek first the kingdom of God in everyday life?
I know we’re supposed to but I am not sure I know what that even means.
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Asking what God wants before I decide anything, and then paying attention to whose answer I end up going with. That’s it, and day to day it looks pretty ordinary, a short prayer in the morning before I check my phone and trying to notice when worry about money is running things (see this thread).
Praying where no one can see it, or doing something kind for someone and never telling anyone about it. That’s what seeking the kingdom first looks like in practice, since the line comes right after Jesus talks about a hidden life with the Father.
I still drift toward whatever gets noticed.
Telling the truth when lying would be easier. Pulling in the person who got left out of the conversation. Small stuff, mostly.
Most nights I ask myself where I went along with God’s rule and where I pushed against it.
The drift feels like being helpful or encouraging. I’ll pray for someone and then work in that I prayed for them. The mentioning is the part I wanted.
What’s helped is doing what you described, the kind thing nobody knows about and then noticing how uncomfortable it gets afterward when no response is coming. That itch to be seen. The hidden life with the Father is the only place it ever gets scratched. It just takes a lot longer than a thank-you text does.
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Hadn’t noticed that in myself until a while ago. It’s really hard to admit but sometimes even when I do something kind, I’m often still looking for recognition afterward. I’m hoping God sees my good deed and rewards me for it… which is wrong.
I like the idea that seeking the kingdom includes learning to let the Father be enough, even when that takes a long time to feel like it’s enough.
Read 2 Peter 1:1-11, and go slowly. Peter gives a concrete list there: add goodness to your faith, then knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness toward other believers, and love.
He says if you keep growing in those, you’ll be “richly provided” an entrance into the eternal kingdom. I’d pick one from the list and start with that today.
Part of it is knowing when to turn off the TV and open your Bible instead of watching one more episode, even of a show you love. Getting into the Word once a day still counts as putting Him first.
Hand me a problem and I’ll have a couple of plans and a spreadsheet before I’ve prayed a single sentence about it, and then I call that seeking first the kingdom.
So everyday seeking means holding off. I sit on the email or the hard conversation long enough to ask.
It came down to one word for me: ‘ALL.’ Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. That’s four separate areas, and I’d given Him one or two and kept the rest for myself.
Heart and soul were easy enough, since that’s church and worship. I was holding back on strength and mind. My energy went to work and whatever was stressing me out… my thinking ran on autopilot until something went wrong, and then I’d finally pray about it.
Now when I wonder whether I’m putting God first, I go down that list and ask which one I’ve been keeping back. Almost always mind.
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Same as staying close to a spouse or your kid, especially the listening part. I’d unload my whole list and be done, and now I read a bit of Scripture first and sit with it for a while before I start asking for stuff.
Letting what God values outrank what everyone else values, even in small, everyday choices. God’s way and the world’s way usually point in different directions and I’m a lot less committed to his than I’d like to admit.
Any explanation worth keeping has to fit every saying Jesus made about the kingdom, including the ones people don’t usually quote. Write them all out by hand and pray over the list. Let the Holy Spirit guide you.
The church piece. The kingdom Jesus talked about is a people, so you can’t grow into it by yourself.
A solid church gives you people who’ve wrestled with the same question and can tell you what it looked like for them this week.
Reading His Word and letting it mess with how I handle a regular Tuesday. I used to decide between what I wanted and what would keep people happy and now what Scripture says is in the mix too.
The picture that helps me most is the vine from John 15.
Plumb walls and honest invoices. I lay brick all day, so most of my kingdom-seeking happens with a trowel in my hand and Colossians 3:23 says to work at it with all your heart, as for the Lord.
And not mouthing off at the general contractor.
Seeking the kingdom is like finding buried treasure. In Matthew 13:44 the guy sells everything he has to buy that field, and he does it in his joy.
Seek ye first. Allelu, alleluia.