Topshelf

What Is A Kingdom?

For a while now, I have been focused on the scripture that says you need to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33). Most of the time, I just studied the whole line, working out that I must seek God, seeking His Face instead of trying to get something from Him. Seeking to find out more about Him and what He is teaching me. Well, the problem came up when it occurred to me that I wasn't really certain exactly what a kingdom is. It might sound goofy to you. Maybe you do know. I didn't having never lived in such a place before.

We, who live in the United States, do not live under a kingdom rule. Never have. Those who came here from England did but they did not impose that form of government on this country. They were trying to begin a new country with fresh ideas and ways of doing things. It was based on the Bible with a smattering of old school England thrown in for good measure.

Having never lived under a king or kingdom rules, it hit me that I probably knew very little about it. So, I tried to find out. It is truly sad how much info is NOT in our encyclopedia. I looked online and got a definition which wasn't bad but it left a bit to be desired. But I did learn a few things.

The most obvious is that the king owns it all. The citizens do not buy their own property. The kingdom allows them to live in the village, city or whatever. They pay the king a portion of their output, whatever that might be. Perhaps it would be a portion of the earned income or more likely in times past, it would be a portion of the food raised or craft items they constructed.

On the other hand, the king was responsible for keeping his kingdom in safety and security. He had to make decisions for the whole group, however many citizens that might be. They would not be allowed to make those choices themselves.

The problem I saw was that if I did not know what a kingdom was in my studies, how could I understand how to deal with the scripture I quoted at the top. It's important to see that it does not say seek first God. It says to seek first His KINGDOM and His righteousness. See, we must seek the kingdom. And now I have a clue what that means. Do you?

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