At Keys Vineyard Church, we are presenting a series called ‘Kingdom Alignment,’ which we post here on Online Bible Institute.

Last week in our Kingdom Alignment series, we talked about recognizing the Father’s faithfulness. We were reminded that our lives are held by a Father who has been faithful in the past, is faithful in the present, and will continue to be faithful in the future. This week, Jesus shows us what a life that trusts the Father begins to look like.

Matthew 6:31–33 (NIV)
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

For the last couple of weeks, Jesus has been talking about worry. He has told us: Look at the birds. Consider the flowers. Remember your value. Trust the Father. And now He brings everything together with one clear invitation: Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.”

Jesus is not simply telling us to stop worrying. He is giving our hearts somewhere better to go. Because worry is rarely just about circumstances. Worry is often connected to pursuit. What am I chasing? What am I trying to secure? What do I believe I must have in order to be okay?

Jesus says the answer is not to pursue all those things more desperately. The answer is to seek something greater—the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 6:32, Jesus says that the world “runs after all these things.” That phrase paints a powerful picture of restless pursuit—chasing, striving, grasping, and organizing our lives around getting enough. Enough money. Enough security. Enough approval. Enough comfort. Enough control.

Jesus is not criticizing us for having needs. In fact, He immediately says, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” The problem is not having needs. The problem begins when meeting those needs becomes the organizing center of our lives. Think about a treadmill. You can run hard. You can increase the speed. You can sweat more and exhaust yourself. But after all that effort, you are still standing in essentially the same place.

That is what life can become when we organize it around anxious pursuit. We run after security. We run after success. We run after control. We tell ourselves, “If I can just get this settled, then I can rest.” But something else always appears that needs to be secured.

Jesus offers another way. He invites us to step off the treadmill of anxious striving and learn to walk with the Father. We do not have to spend our lives desperately trying to secure life for ourselves. Our Father already knows what we need. Our invitation is to trust Him, seek His Kingdom, and receive our lives from His hand.

This weekend at Keys Vineyard Church, we will discuss all this and more, so be sure to join us in person or online.

Steve Lawes is a pastor at Keys Vineyard Church and also the founder of the Online Bible Institute Network.

At Keys Vineyard Church, we are presenting a series called ‘Kingdom Alignment,’ which we post here on Online Bible Institute.

Last week in our Kingdom Alignment series, we talked about a very important word: therefore. Jesus had been teaching us that we cannot serve both God and money, and then He said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.” Because we belong to the Father, because He is our source, and because our lives are under His loving care, we do not have to live consumed by worry.

This week, Jesus teaches us something very practical about learning to trust the Father: we learn to recognize His faithfulness. And one of the places Jesus tells us to look is creation.

Matthew 6:26–30 (NIV)
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

Have you noticed something about Jesus? When people are wrestling with complicated things, He often points them toward very ordinary things. Seeds. Trees. Sheep. Children. Bread. Vineyards. Birds. Flowers. Because the Kingdom of God is not hidden only in complicated ideas. Evidence of God’s goodness is woven into the ordinary world around us.

Jesus says, “Look.” Look at the birds. Look at the flowers. Pay attention. Jesus invites anxious people to become observers. Our world trains us to notice everything that might go wrong. Jesus trains us to notice what is true. The bird outside your window becomes a reminder: The Father provides. The flower growing beside the road becomes a reminder: The Father cares. The sunrise becomes a reminder: The Father is faithful.

Psalm 19:1–4 (NIV)
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

Creation does not replace Scripture. Creation reminds us of the God revealed in Scripture. The Father who feeds the birds is your Father. The Father who clothes the flowers is your Father. And most importantly, the Father who cares for creation is the Father who loved you enough to send His Son for you.

This weekend at Keys Vineyard Church, we will discuss all this and more, so be sure to join us in person or online.

Steve Lawes is a pastor at Keys Vineyard Church and also the founder of the Online Bible Institute Network.