Do Not Be Anxious: Seek the Kingdom First

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Scripture • World English Bible

Matthew 6:25–34

WEB

²⁵Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

²⁶See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?

²⁷“Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?

²⁸Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin,

²⁹yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these.

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?

³¹“Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’

³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

³³But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

³⁴Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.

World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain

Reflection

Anxiety is a thief that narrows vision and steals courage. Jesus refuses to treat worry as a character trait to be endured; he diagnoses where our trust really sits. When you obsess over food, drink, clothes, or tomorrow, you’re living like someone who believes provision is ultimately controlled by your effort rather than your Father’s care. Jesus points to the birds and the lilies not to promise a stress-free life but to correct our priorities and our posture. Notice his blunt questions: does worry add a single moment to your life? Are you of less value than the birds? These questions are meant to shock you out of a self-reliant scramble and into dependence. The call is not to passivity. He says seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness—the active pursuit of the King’s rule in your life. That pursuit rearranges your decisions, your time, your heart. It means making kingdom choices in work, money, relationships, and how you handle fear. It means practical trust: prayer that changes you, not just a list of requests; wise planning that isn’t panicked; and community that carries burdens. Remember also his pastoral realism: tomorrow will bring its own troubles. The gospel doesn’t promise a trouble-free roadmap, but it gives a Lord who walks with you through each day and orders your priorities so you don’t live enslaved to anxiety.

Putting Faith Into Action

Write down the one practical worry that keeps replaying in your mind and list three small next steps you can take this week to address it (prayer, a practical task, or a person to call).
Choose one daily habit this week that points your attention to God's kingdom first—morning Scripture, a short prayer at lunch, or serving someone—and do it each day for seven days.
Find one brother you trust and share honestly about a current anxiety; ask him to pray for you and check in once this week about progress.

Prayer

Father, our worries come quickly and loudly. Teach us to turn from anxious striving toward you. Remind us that you value us more than birds or flowers and that you know our needs. Give us faith to seek your kingdom and righteousness first, and practical courage to do the next right thing today. Calm our minds, provide for our needs, and send brothers to walk with us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Memory Verse

Matthew 6:33 — But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. (WEB)

“But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Keep Going Continue to Part 17 Judge Yourself and Treat Others Right Matthew · Matthew 7:1–12 Read the next devotional →

Bible Context

Read all of Matthew 6

Matthew 6

World English Bible • WEB

¹“Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

²Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.

³But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does,

⁴so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

⁵“When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward.

⁶But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

⁷In praying, don’t use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.

⁸Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.

⁹Pray like this: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

¹⁰Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us today our daily bread.

¹²Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.

¹³Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’

¹⁴“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

¹⁶“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.

¹⁷But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

¹⁸so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

¹⁹“Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;

²⁰but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;

²¹for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²²“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.

²³But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

²⁴“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.