“But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be gien to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

You probably are familiar with this verse and its context, but in case you are not, Jesus has been telling his disciples / people (/ who really was there eh?) that they should not worry about their lives, the food they will eat, their body, the clothes they will wear… because God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers of the fields. And Jesus tells them that, people are more valuable than birds and flowers. So that is why they should not worry about these things that God knows they need. And so Jesus keeps going but in a different direction, starting with “But” so Jesus is saying, “Instead of worrying about your life and your needs, you should seek God’s Kingdom, God’s righteousness… and all these things you could worry about, they will be given to you.”

I think that I am experiencing a little bit more that verse since I’ve started university. I know. I talk about university all the time, but I learn and notice a lot of things because I go there so… As I said, I live a little bit more that verse now.

I do not think that Jesus was thinking of food and clothes only, I think He was thinking about any need that I could have. Going to university, one of my needs (or purposes) is to meet the requirements of each of my courses, is to succeed. There are plenty of things that I simply do not understand and sometimes it seems that’s all I am doing: school-related work, it seems as if I am focused on university because I need to, I have too if I want to succeed. And that’s true to a certain extent. What I have been realizing is that there is more to my assignments, to the endless hours  spend in class, the writing exercises I have to do, the books I have to read and the writing of exams. I believe that there is a deeper, or higher purpose to this all. It’s not just about me and my degree. It’s first of all about God and the salvation of anybody I rub shoulders with, whether teachers or students. So having this in mind, I have been less worried about my grades, how I am going to do this crazy assignment and how I am supposed to write this enormous paper in two weeks… and more “worried” or let’s say, more concerned with the Kingdom of God here where I am. What do I mean? What do Jesus mean? I believe that in my situation, seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness is to spread God’s Name around, reflect His image, His attitude, build bridges from people to Jesus, not that I am a mediator, but someone who will let them know that Jesus offers them grace and free salvation. I think that is what it means for me to seek God’s Kingdom and righteousness right now.

Since I realize that God wants me to ”take care” of His business instead of worrying about my needs… I am not so worried about my succeess at school and how I am doing, I care most about the people around me and how I can shine forth Jesus to their hearts. The neat thing is that many times I was sure I was going to fail the exam, many times I did not see an end to everything I had to do… but everytime, God surprised me and I could not believe the marks I’ve gotten (apart for my argumentative essay, see previous post!!!), seriously God has been blessing me all the time. I am not saying that God has given me super good marks, but He has surprised me a lot. And I think that it is because I understand that His purpose for me in university is not for me to get my degree; His purpose for me is to use me to spread His Name. So I try to keep this in mind and try to do my best at school, but I need not to worry about my needs, He is taking care of it all.

So let us

“… seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness…” and not worry about ourselves too much, because it’s God’s business to take care of us.