05/21/2021
What did Jesus mean when He told us to "seek first the kingdom of God?" Some believe He meant to seek Him totally and that all else would miraculously be provided, while others feel He meant that we should seek God first and foremost, but then continue living our old lives guided lawfully by His commandments. Then there are those who believe that this means we should live our lives as we always have and to simply roll and squeeze God into the cracks of life like mortar or caulk. Which type of seeker are you? Do any of these ways describe how you search for Him? In what way do you seek to know our Heavenly Father?
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:33-34 ESV
For the majority of people God is rather inconvenient; they want to believe His Son is their savior because they hear His voice within them, but they also find Him to be a disruptive force when it comes to the lifestyle they are leading. They find that giving up those things they have built their lives around is an almost insurmountable challenge... so they attempt to satisfy themselves by squeezing Him into the cracks of their broken lives. They try to justify this approach as putting Him first because after all, isn’t He the glue that is somehow holding their shattered lives together. This is often a first step towards knowing Jesus, but it isn't the life God wants for us. It is a life in which we are struggling to remain in charge and that uses God as a tool when we find it convenient.
The next way we might seek Him is to build a life and then place our faith in God safely upon it. We think that this is putting Him first because we say that He is important and ingrained in our lives, but in truth, seeking Him in this way makes Him a veneer on top of our same old worldly selves. People might see a reflection of God when they look at us, but once they get to know us better it doesn't take long to realize that the least little scratch reveals what lies beneath. This is descriptive of those who go to church every Sunday, puts the "Jesus" bumper sticker on their car, and then cusses out every driver who cuts in front of them on the highway. If this is who we are then we are living a fantasy faith and not the deep righteous life we should be seeking.
But don’t despair, there is another way to seek Him… when we truly begin to understand the teachings of Jesus, something amazing happens... the old house that was once ourselves is razed to the ground. The debris is removed and hauled off to the landfill where it is disposed of in a great pit, and a new life of faith is constructed where the old one once stood. We build this house and life with Jesus as the cornerstone, and our faith in God as its foundation. When we do this then we find the true meaning of seeking God first. We find that everything in our lives is based on His will for us. We are always facing the direction that Jesus is facing, and our faith permeates everything about us.
This is how we should seek God and, in this way, we will find that when trouble comes upon us we will go instinctively to our knees in prayer. When the storms threaten us, we shutter our windows securely with our faith; when the ground shakes, we stand unmovable on the firm foundation of our belief, and when the floods threaten to wash us away, we find ourselves standing high and dry on high ground. In this way, everything in our lives and the surrounding world is seen through the eyes of God, and He gives us all those things we need. In this way, God is no longer a tool we use to make our lives easy, He is no longer a dream or fantasy, no, He is our rock, our foundation, our Strong Tower, and our Lord in all things.
“"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious 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 food, and the body more than clothing?”
Matthew 6:25 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for calling my name as I have sought you. Thank you for the mercy, grace, and forgiveness you have shown me through your Son Jesus Christ. I thank you for destroying and removing the sins of my old life and establishing my new self… safe with Jesus as my cornerstone. Holy Father, I no longer see you through the eyes of the world, but rather I see the world through yours. In this way I can easily identify sin and avoid the pitfalls that it presents. In this way I see the grace, mercy, and goodness you provide for me as I seek you. In this way I see all those things you lovingly give to sustain me on this journey of spiritual discovery. Lord, you are first in my life; you are more than simply a filler, a tool, or a hope… you are the essence of all I am. In you I have found peace and joy. In you I have found everything that I once sought, and more. Praised be your name Father... now and forevermore. Holy, Holy, Holy art thou my God and greatly to be praised. Merciful are you who calls out to me and beckons me to come away from the darkness of the world into the light of your eternal presence. Help me as I strain to hear your voice and give me strength and all those things I need that I might answer, find, and do, your will for me. This is my prayer and my greatest desire Father… help me in it that I might seek, find, and glorify you always.
Amen!
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 ESV
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”
Proverbs 18:10 ESV
“But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.”
Deuteronomy 4:29-31 ESV
Rich Forbes