We serve a God, who doesn’t need much, except that you choose Him with faith. Is it that simple?

To explore that, we will start with one of the well-known teachings of Jesus.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

I am attempting to explain this in 2 parts.

First is the Kingdom of God and second is the Righteousness

To give the context, Jesus tells us not to be anxious about our life on earth, instead seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and whatever we need will be taken care of.

Sounds a bit vague, perhaps. Let’s hold it there.

The major part of Jesus’ ministry was to unveil the nature and realities of the Kingdom of God.

So what is this Kingdom of God?

Often misunderstood as merely as heaven with clouds and angels, the Kingdom of Heaven is far more profound than that.

It is a unique blend of realities woven into our existence. Let’s explore further.

The Kingdom of God is

1) a spiritual, metaphysical reality that a believer starts to see and experience by choosing to be born again in Christ and seeking a relationship with Him on earth.

2)a physical reality that a human spirit may or may not go to, depending on their choices.

Jesus draws in the reality of our existence and its purpose by helping us get exposed to this reality. By being born again in Christ, the spirit of God starts to dwell in our hearts, where a certain paradigm shift happens in the way a believer begins to participate in the relationship with Jesus. This relationship gives us understanding, wisdom, and discernment in our responses to the world around us as we continually invite God’s presence in our midst. It humbles and transforms us in a way our hearts seek to be more like God, where Jesus perfects us through faith. Through our faith, righteousness starts to control us and leads us to holiness. (Romans 6:22) Now this is important because Ephesians 4 tells us,

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

True Righteousness and Holiness are requirements that enable us to stand in God’s perfection. That’s why human understanding of good deeds or upholding moral standards will never be good enough to enter that Kingdom.

Before you think that’s a high standard of morality that one can never attain, you ought to think of the love of God for us.

Yes, God Himself intervened through His son Jesus to give us a way into the Kingdom. Through His death on the cross, Jesus made Himself the source of righteousness for each of us, rescuing us from eternal separation from God and thus becoming our Savior.

This is why Jesus tells us very specifically to seek the Kingdom of God, because it holds the framework of God’s standard of righteousness.

It’s a beautiful design that comes to fruition when we simply learn to put our faith in Jesus. Did you know Jesus calls us to have faith the size of a mustard seed, so we can enter this kingdom, “which is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:19). Yes, it is not a mere existence in imaginary clouds, it will be the ultimate quality of life, which is given to us as a gift through Jesus, even the wealthiest or the happiest person on earth will feel poor in comparison. Remember Father Abraham? He believed in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (James 2:23) The word credited is used here because our trying adds to the value of righteousness before God. God credits the faith we have in Him as righteousness so that we can enter His kingdom with perfection.

But when we fall short, Jesus covers us with the standard of righteousness he alone met with his sinless life, so we are not unrighteous in God’s sight. God sees Jesus as the emblem of a ‘perfect man’ in our place. This is why repentance of our sins helps to remove all the blots of unrighteousness when we fall short, and the grace of God facilitates us to do righteous acts.

But when we fail with our trying, or with tendencies to fall short at every moment of arrogance, ego, and disobedience, and suffer for circumstances which are not under our control, Jesus tells us to always come back to him, because he will give us all the grace that we “need” through the blood shed on the cross.

Basically, this life is about letting God work in you to enter His kingdom without any defect.

The “Kingdom of God” is at hand, says Jesus. Get it while you are here! ( Matthew 3:2)