We get confronted with the futility of our own efforts all too often. We need God, and God needs us because we're His body on the earth. We're His hands, His feet, and His voice.

We should be able to say, "Okay, God, I'll work for You. I'm going to measure everything I have in this life for its effectiveness in getting more people saved, more people healed, and more people grown up in Your Word. I'm going to labor to manage my finances efficiently, as You say I should, for the sole purpose of being able to plant as much seed into Your kingdom as possible."

You see, when we work for God like that, He'll take care of us. That's what the Bible says. Jesus said this when He gave His famous teaching about seeking first the kingdom of God. He was saying that all the unbelievers in the world just want houses and clothes and food.

They get anxious about it and wonder where those things are going to come from. But believers don't have to be worried about such things. Take no thought about it. All we have to do is seek the kingdom of God first, and then we can have all those other things (Matt. 6:31-33).

We get into trouble when we try to figure out how God brings these things to pass. So often we get worried, thinking, What if I seek first the kingdom and God doesn't come through? How is God going to bring me these things if I don't save up for them by scrimping or borrowing? How will these things be added unto me?

Well, that's not our problem to worry about; that's God's part. His Word clearly tells us not to lean on our own understanding because His ways are higher than ours (Prov. 3:5; Isa. 55:8).

If you can figure out how God is going to perform His Word, it probably isn't of God. He could bring your answer in a way you never thought of. It could come through a rich uncle you didn't even know you had. It might be a bonus or an increase in salary.

Who knows, it could even come from the profit of a witty idea or invention that makes you money. God may prosper you in a way you might not even be able to imagine.

The important thing for us is to seek first the kingdom of God. It's crucial for us to know exactly what the kingdom of God is. Jesus defines it several places in the New Testament, using parables to describe it.

One of the most important parables He uses is found in Mark 4, where He talks about the seed principle. In this passage, Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a man who casts seeds in the ground and afterward goes to sleep. Over the next couple of days that seed springs up and begins to grow, though the man doesn't know how it happens. This, Jesus says, is what the kingdom of God is like (Mark 4:26-27).

This is the kingdom we're supposed to seek first. We're supposed to seek ways to base our life on the seed principle. It's totally scriptural and accurate to say that our motivation for managing our money is to plant as much seed into the kingdom of God as we can. We can view this as being God's objective for us in the area of finances.

Source: Simplify Your Life by Mac Hammond.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers