Perfect Peace 2: Needs

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. - Romans 14:17 ESV

This verse is about more than having Subway and a Diet Coke. I think that when this verse says "it's not about eating and drinking" it's more broadly talking about everything we need. Jesus made a similar statement in Matthew 6:31-33:

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Jesus added clothing to the mix. I think we can also add in the car you drive, the job you work, the house you live in, the computer or phone or tablet you're reading this on - anything you need or want. These verses are saying that those things are irrelevant to your inner spiritual life. If you keep your focus on Jesus (as we talked about last time) then you can have peace, joy, and righteousness in your life regardless of whether you have anything to eat, drink, or wear at the moment. Jesus adds a promise that if you seek God's kingdom above those other things, God will provide the eat, drink, and wear things. That's not to say that if you are hungry and have a $5 bill, you should pray that someone will magically bring you your sub sandwich. By all means, head to the restaurant if that's the food you want. But the food should not be your primary focus at any time. Or your clothes or lack of clothes, or your money or lack of money. Seek God's Kingdom first, and see what happens!


Back to the beginning