Matthew 6:33 is a conclusion drawn from the previous teachings in the chapter. Earlier in 6:25 Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than clothing?” This leads the train of thought expressed in 6:26-31 that God’s family is well cared for by the Father, and when we don’t acknowledge this, then we worry about our earthly needs. Since these needs are the Father’s responsibility, we can be free of the burden of anxiety of getting them and instead focus on what’s spiritually important.
6:32 says, “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” Just like the “seek” in this case is not about prayer, so the “seek” in 6:33 is not about prayer. The seek in 6:32 is being used in a general sense, emphasizing that we place these needful things in a high priority, and engage our thoughts, plans, longings, emotions, activity, and human contacts into getting these things.
6:33 tells us to pour all that activity into seeking the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God implies a king and his subjects. So our “first” priority as subjects of Jesus is to pour all of our efforts into knowing the King, and learning to obey Him. We learn to place all that we are and have under His rule: our heart, mind, body, plans, speech, values, possessions, finances — nothing is left out. We seek this in the sense that we aim our resources, internal and external, to obtain this end. We seek because as sinners the way of doing this is hidden to us and we must unlearn old practices and priorities to learn this new way of faith that works through love.
