Matthew 6:31-32 says, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? For all these things the Gentiles are anxiously seeking. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” If we become anxious regarding what to eat and drink and what to wear, our eating, drinking and clothing will become our burden, and we will become the same as the Gentiles. Almost all human beings, regardless of place or time, are anxious for their living. Man’s living cannot be separated from the two aspects of eating and clothing. Our eating signifies what we need inwardly, and our clothing signifies what we need outwardly.
Whether a person is rich or poor, he is anxious for his eating and clothing. No matter what a person’s degree of eating and clothing is, this is an unalterable principle. However, the Lord Jesus said, “I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you should eat or what you should drink; nor for your body, what you should put on” (v. 25). This is the Lord’s command, the Lord’s charge. In verse 32a the Lord said, “For all these things the Gentiles are anxiously seeking.” We do not need to imitate them. The second half of the verse says, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” This can be considered a fact or a promise.
As the head of the household, every proper father cares for his whole family, including his children. In the spiritual realm we also have a Father, the heavenly Father, who knows all of our needs. However, we may have never treasured this word in Matthew 6. We need to thank the Father for this, saying, “O Father, I really worship You. Thank You, Father. If I become anxious concerning what to eat and what to put on, I will offend You because this is what the Gentiles do. They do not have a heavenly Father, so they are anxious for themselves. But this should not be the case with me. I have a heavenly Father. I do not need to be anxious for all these things because You know everything.” In verses 31-32a the Lord gives us a command, saying, “Do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? For all these things the Gentiles are anxiously seeking.” We should not follow the custom of the Gentiles, being anxious about what to eat and drink and what to wear every day. This is what they talk about all the time. We have a heavenly Father, and He knows all that we need regarding food and clothing.
The Lord said, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (v. 33). Here it does not say that we need to beseech but to seek, meaning to find. What we seek should be God’s kingdom and His righteousness. We not only need to pray or beseech, but we also need to find. We have to first find God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and then what we need will be added to us. The first half of this word—“seek first His kingdom and His righteousness”—is a command, and the second half—“all these things will be added to you”—is a promise. He did not say that all these things would be given to us; He said that they would be added to us. Besides God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, He has to add to us all these things. In a similar way, when we buy something at a store, the store may give us a small gift that does not cost anything. This is something added.
Today God’s kingdom is the church, and God’s righteousness is Christ. If we seek God’s kingdom but are detached from the church and do not live the church life, then we are not truly seeking God’s kingdom. Today God’s kingdom is the church. Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The kingdom of God is the church, and the righteousness of God is Christ. When we come to the church and live the church life, we are seeking the kingdom of God. When we live Christ, we are seeking God’s righteousness. As a result, we have both the kingdom and righteousness. In other words, when we have the church life, we have Christ as well.
Does the heavenly Father give us only these things? No, He adds to us our food, our clothing, our transportation, our traveling, and our housing. All that we need regarding food, clothing, housing, and transportation are added to us. I have been saved for sixty-two years and have been serving the Lord for fifty-five years. I have never seen anyone who seeks God’s kingdom and His righteousness suffer from hunger, coldness, or a lack of food, clothing, housing, or transportation. On the contrary, all those whom I saw were in the church, living Christ and living the kingdom life. Ultimately, they had God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and God also added to them the four essential requirements for living—food, clothing, housing, and transportation. Hence, these three verses in Matthew 6 contain a command, a warning, a fact, and a promise.