A righteous desire
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
God’s kingdom first:
The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were very religious outwardly, but Jesus often took them to task on their lives because they did those things to be seen of men (Matt 23:5). Jesus admonished His hearers as well as us to focus beyond the ordinary desires and needs of the physical existence. We are to look at the unseen (2 Cor 4:18) and seek first God’s kingdom.
When we yield ourselves to righteousness, we become servants to these things we obey (Ro 6:16). It is clear we cannot serve two masters (Matt 6:24); we either yield our members (bodies) as instruments (weapons) of ungodliness or righteousness; either we walk after the flesh or after the Spirit – we choice. We must doggedly pursue righteousness and Godliness (1 Tim 6:11). Our new man longs for righteousness, but we must consciously yield ourselves to seek and serve God’s kingdom. And we must never become slack in that pursuit (1 Cor 10:12).
Doing righteousness:
Every Christian experiences being made unblameable because of the righteousness of Christ being imputed to us upon conversion. But often many Christians struggle with the everyday living out of the righteous life. John speaks of the Christian who sins not (1 Jn 3:6) and goes on to say that the Christian does not commit sin because His seed remains in him (1 Jn 3:9). He also goes on to say that the committed or abiding Christian keeps himself and the enemy does not touch him (1 Jn 5:18). The Greek verbs are in the continuing tense, but the emphasis is upon a continuous righteous lifestyle.
This visible transformation from a worldly conformity begins with a desire for God’s word and then fashioning ourselves after God’s holiness (1 Pe 1:14-15). Since we are raised with Christ, we are to mortify the fleshly appetites, not be controlled by emotions, but put on Godly attitudes (Col 3:5-14).
A righteous heart:
It’s a sad commentary that Solomon’s heart was not perfect with God when he got older (1 Ki 11:4) and because of this the Lord was angry with him (1 Ki 4:9). We must guard our hearts in order to remain righteous. Proverbs says to “keep our hearts” – the word for keep is natsar which means “to guard, set a watch”. Psalms 119 uses it ten times to demand our careful watch on our obedience and use of the Word of God. This same Psalm promises a blessing on all who do (Psa 119:2).
Jesus gave several illustrations about our hearts (Matt 12:33-35). Others will try to turn our hearts away from God – whether of their own means or influenced by the enemy – so we must be constantly on our guard against outside influence. Probably the most deceptive influence is that of our own heart (Jer 17:9) and we do not devise our own ways (1 Ki 12:330.