Are You Advancing God’s Kingdom?

When Jesus started His public ministry, two of John the Baptist’s disciples left John and started following Jesus. When Jesus saw that they were now following Him, He asked them a question: “What are you seeking?” The New Living Translation translates the question as “What do you want?” A bit more informally, the Message Bible words the question “What are you after?”

It’s a question Jesus asks all of us who decide to follow Him.  You see, Jesus doesn’t force any of us to follow Him—He gives us a choice. He knows, however, that WHY we’re following Him makes all the difference in the world with what we will do with our lives. No doubt you remember the phrase in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy kingdom come.” The question I would pose to you is this: Are you interested in advancing His kingdom or your own? What is your prayer: “Thy kingdom come” or “My kingdom come”?

Matthew 6:33 instructs us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” What did Jesus mean by “all things”? Jesus had just been talking about people who worry about how they are going to get the clothing, food and drink they need. Jesus was telling us that if we seek His kingdom first, all these needs will be met.

What do you seek? What do you really want? “Thy kingdom come” or “My kingdom come?” That is the deepest question anyone can ask you. Most of us have goals, and, yes, we’d appreciate a little help from God achieving them. But that’s really still just praying, “My kingdom come, my will be done.”

Jesus asks us, “What are you seeking?” The secret to finding His kingdom is found in Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”