Have you ever run across a scripture you memorized years ago and have it slap you in the face with the fact that you haven’t fully updated your interpretation of it recently? That happened to me the other day with the text Matthew 6:33. Many of us already have the melody in mind — we often sang it. It was quoted in articles or messages exhorting us towards the goal of the kingdom.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 NIV
And then it hit me: I had always filed this text in the “things to accomplish, character to work on, another of the should-do, have-to-do” texts in my mental “Christian checklist file.”
But it doesn’t say that, does it? Jesus invites us to seek the kingdom he is offering. (As possible definitions for seek, Strong’s Dictionary lists: enquire into, crave, aim at, meditate on.) It’s a journey of discovery, learning to lean into him because he wants to share his righteousness with us. He knows we can’t come up with righteousness — after all, he said he could not do anything as a human being on his own, so he’s not going to ask us to. The secret is not in what we need to do, but what we need to let go of in order to receive.
Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. The more fully that is understood, the more useless it is to retain a “Christian checklist file.” Instead, we respond to Jesus who lives the way and the truth and the life out in us, as we let go of our need to do things on our own. And as we all know, that isn’t a onetime, done-and-dusted decision — it is a frame of mind to be consciously adopted on a daily basis.
Prayer:
Lord, I believe you are the way. Help my unbelief. Help me let go and receive! Amen.
By Ruth Matthews (1951 – 2023)
Adapted from the full article written in 2022.
Matthew 6:33… “The secret is not in what we need to do, but what we need to let go of in order to receive”. Oh that we may all learn that lesson! Our dear sister Ruth admonished us to get on the right track. Once again, it is all about Jesus. Remembering her warm and inviting smiles during the international conferences we had the privilege to attend together, I cannot but conclude that Ruth did not only understand the “secret”, but she also lived it.
Thanks. Like Ruth, I’m learning that just because the passage is familiar to me doesn’t mean I understand it. Asking the Holy Spirit to enable me listen to the scripture gives me the a-hah moment she described. Ken