The Kingdom ManifestoSample

Kingdom Priorities

It’s the commandment that everyone breaks.

That’s because it seems nearly impossible.

“Do not worry.”

It’s what we are called to as followers of Jesus, yet who can live it up to its lofty heights?

I don’t know a man who never worries (although some are better at this than others). Our families, our finances, our health, the state of the world, the future—there is plenty to distract us with anxiety about what is unknown and uncontrollable.

For Jesus, today’s section of the Sermon on the Mount brings about His famous teaching concerning worrying about this life—namely, that we shouldn’t do it.

So easy to say!

But Jesus doesn’t just lay down a difficult commandment and leave it there.

Yes, a man of God shouldn’t worry—but that’s not because there aren’t plenty of things to legitimately worry about.

Jesus teaches that a man of God shouldn’t worry because he knows the God in charge of all Creation, including how the birds of the air get fed and how the flowers of the field are dressed in splendor.

This God is good, knows our needs, and will care for us. We may not get everything we want in life, but we will have everything we need (Philippians 4:19).

The kingdoms of this world run on an endless cycle of work, consumption, and anxiety. We strive hard to have enough and exhaust ourselves on the nonstop hamster wheel.

In the Upside-Down Kingdom, Jesus calls us to be different.

“Don’t stress and chase after money and possessions and needs like the rest of the world,” Jesus says in today’s passage. “Your good Father is already well-aware of what you need.”

“Seek Him and His Kingdom first and foremost. Seek what is good and do what is right, making Him the priority. When you do this, everything else will come your way.”

Our Father is good and has more than enough to take care of us.

So, the command “Do not worry” is not simply a legalistic call for a man to try to silence his naturally concerned brain.

It’s an invitation—to trust our good Father, do our part in seeking Him and His ways, and know that as we do, He will show us His goodness and grant us all we need.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for being more than enough. Help me to fulfill the words of Christ in today’s passage: Worrying not, and trusting in You to provide. As I seek and trust You, please provide all my family and I need. Amen.

Reflection: In which area of your life do you experience the most worry? What would it take for you to fully lift that burden from yourself and lay that worry at Jesus’ feet?