This morning we begin worship seeking:
And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
But when you are in the army, you do not worry about what you are going to eat, or what you are going to wear, or where you are going to sleep. That is all provided for you. We are in God's army and in His kingdom.
But somehow we are to "seek" the kingdom. One can seek (zēteō) by locating, by thinking, by striving, or by demanding. We are told later that it certainly does not need to be "found":
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
But people stumble on this word "midst" (entos) and are still trying to find it. Like when you are staring into the fridge looking for the pickles and your wife yells from the other room "They are right there!". God's kingdom is never found by looking. Jesus used the word to explain that it had already come not where it was to be found.
So we need to stop using the phrase "where is it?" and switch to "what is it?" in our seeking.
Simply understood, a kingdom is where the will of the king is done. Anywhere the king's will is not done is not part of the kingdom. That is why these two phrases were spoken together:
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
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