But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

      Psalm 34:10b

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

      Matthew 6:33

Did you know that God is a better provider than anyone of us could every be? It’s amazing that mankind works, earns, invests, saves, and believes that they are solely responsible for their success. When in actuality, God owns it all and even our intellect, expertise, or physical ability to earn comes from Him. Today, we will look at how the old and the new both speak to what true prosperity is and what provision looks like and how we access it.

You’ll notice that both verses, from the old and the new, speak of provision but the key is that we are seeking God. “But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.” “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Seeking God is the secret to seeing real prosperity…and it’s really not a secret at all. Scripture tells us, very clearly, that seeking God is the key to seeing God’s provision in our lives. 

But unfortunately, many in the world today believe that prosperity means that they have made a lot of money. Nothing we have on earth we will keep into eternity. We can leave it behind for others to have but they, too, will eventually give it up as well. This is why Jesus tells us not to store up for ourselves treasure on earth (Matthew 6:19). Yet, many will chase after temporal things to the exclusion of their salvation and spiritual well-being (Luke 9:24-25). 

But for those of us that have surrendered it all to Christ, we understand the value of obeying Jesus’ instructions to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20). It’s real simple, if given the choice between eating for a day (and eating like a king) but forfeiting food for the rest of your earthly life or being well fed all the days of your life, which would you choose? No one would choose the one day over provision for a lifetime. But that’s what people, who chase after the temporal, are doing. Our lives on earth are but a breath, a vapor, compared to eternity (Isaiah 40:8, James 4:14). Chasing away, storing away, and enjoying away, then giving it back over and forfeiting the salvation of your soul, being separated from God for eternity…that is essentially what one is doing when they totally invest in the here and now while neglecting the things of eternity. To unbelievers, storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven is foolishness but to us who are being saved, who walk everyday with our Savior, this is the goal of life and the very definition of success. 

So let’s assume that we are indeed seeking God with our whole heart. What does scripture say about God’s provision? First, if we are seeking God with our whole heart and walking in the power of the Spirit everyday, we are told that, “we will not be in want of any good thing.” Nothing that is good, that we truly need, we will be without. That’s what the scripture says. So if we are doing without, we need to check our commitment in seeking God, making sure that there is not a mixture of seeking God, chasing after the world, and/ or relying on ourselves. Scripture is not teaching us to be lazy, in fact, we are to work and preferably, we are to be working in the calling that God has placed on our lives. Consider the following:

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

1 Timothy 5:8

We don’t sit on the couch and wait for God to drop blessings out of heaven nor do we expect that others will give us handouts without our earning the money. Neither of those perspectives are God-honoring. We can know that God will provide when we have surrendered our lives to Christ, we are seeking His will for our lives, and we are willing to work in fulfillment of His calling on our lives. “We shall not be in want of any good thing.” This is the promise for those who seek God with their whole heart. And this promise comes from the benevolent nature of God. Consider Jesus’ words:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

    Matthew 7:11

For those who belong to Christ and for those who ask, God is prepared to give what is good. He is comparing His ability to provide to that of earthly parents. We instinctively know how to take care of our children yet God is a better provider than the best parent on the planet. No good thing will be withheld for those who belong to Christ. 

It’s important for us to understand what the Bible refers to as “good.” This is a wonderful Greek word that includes in its definition: “something of good constitution or nature,” “something useful or salutary,” “things that are agreeable, pleasant, joyful, happy,” and “advantageous, beneficial, profitable, and health-giving.” Quite a powerful word and it is the very definition of what God desires to provide to those who belong to Him. 

So why would anyone settle for the lesser, self-achieving provision? Perhaps it is because they have never lived in the provision of Almighty God, who owns it all anyway. Everything that we have is simply on loan. We keep nothing except what we did for the kingdom, things of eternal value (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). So when we seek God, we will see His provision but we are to “seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.” Notice the priority here? “First” means that nothing else is of more importance. Compare that with what Jesus tells us is the first and greatest commandment:

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.”

        Matthew 22:36-38 

The most important thing anyone is to be about in this life is to love God with their whole heart, their whole soul, and their whole mind. Seeking “first” the Lord and loving Him with “everything” that we have…this is the criteria for enjoying God’s provision. And if there was any doubt as to how God views our priorities, consider His words:

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 10:37-39

If we’re honest, it’s not that God is willing to provide everything that we need and more, if there is a problem in this area, we probably need to check the criteria of seeking Him first, loving Him first, and prioritizing everyone and everything else around our relationship with Christ. But the promise remains…”we shall not be in want of any good thing” and “all of the things we need in life will be provided.” 

Are we seeking Him first? Are we believing the word of God? Are we willing to pursue His calling on our lives and work toward that end? Are we depending on ourselves or on Him? Do we define success as how much we have or whether or not our lives are pleasing to Him? Spend some time with God today, honestly answering these questions, recommitting your life to seeking Him first, and asking for His provision!