Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. -Matthew 6:33 NLT

Imagine a man sitting on the beach enjoying the sunrise when he hears someone off in the distance say that there is a buried treasure somewhere on this exact beach. His eyes light up with excitement, he just knows he can find it. So, he starts to dig. He spends the entire day there and moves all around the beach digging hole after hole trying to find this treasure. A treasure that could completely turn his life around. He begins to mentally make plans for what he will do when he finds it, because he just knows that he will. He has complete confidence in himself. But as time goes by, he starts to get that sunken hopeless feeling. He has searched what seems like the entire beach looking for this life-changing treasure, but to no avail. Soon, he gives up all remaining hope and goes home, head hung low, worn out and defeated. Crushed that those big dreams he had initially envisioned for himself will just have to stay dreams and never come to fruition.

Sadly, he spent the entire time searching under his own power for that amazing life-changing treasure and was so focused on it that he missed the One that was on the beach the whole time with him holding the treasure map just waiting to show him the way. He had been there the whole time but was missed by the allure of the treasure.

God already knows what we need, and it’s not news to Him when we present Him with our wants and desires. But what He desires from us on our part is to seek His kingdom above all else. When we are fretting and stewing about the things He already has plans to give us, we could be spending our time much better by seeking closeness with the actual Giver of the gifts.

His Kingdom, His presence, His counsel, and His friendship are what last for eternity and truly have value worth seeking. Instead of pursuing that new fancy car, that following on social media or that new relationship, we could be seeking Him. Jesus knows what is best for us and what He already has for us. We don’t have to worry or wonder; we don’t have to wear ourselves out searching for things that have already been in the works for us. So why not spend our time more wisely and focus and seek what we will get to enjoy for all eternity, not just the earthly treasures we crave.

Seek His voice, seek His face, seek His advice, seek His peace, seek His nearness, seek His Kingdom, just seek Him and like a lock to a key, everything else will fall into its proper place.