BIBLE PASSAGE:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not
worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
(Matthew 6:33-34)
MEDITATION:
Think back to the time when you were young, and Christmas was
just a few weeks away. Your parents had been telling you all year
that if you expected a visit from Santa Clause, you had to be good.
Behaving and being nice were your main objectives if you expected
gifts from Santa. If you could do those two things, then you were
assured you would receive presents from Santa on Christmas Day.
Now, roll the clock forward to where you are now as an adult. God
has many blessings for those who belong to Him (His children), and
what He has for us, should never be compared to the temporal gifts
we received from Santa, as a child.
God’s blessings are intended to fulfill the needs of life, which include
food, clothing and shelter. God also blesses us in many other ways,
but He has some requirements for us in order to receive them.
First and foremost, we are required to be a member of His family. In
order to become His ‘children’, we need to believe Jesus was His Son
and that He died on the cross to pay the debt for our sins. We need to
also believe that Jesus was resurrected on the third day, and is now
with God the Father in Heaven.
Next, we need to seek His kingdom and His righteousness. In other
words, our main focus should be on understanding His will for all
mankind, and obeying His commands. Our obedience to Him needs
to be the highest item on our list of priorities.
Too often we think about our past failures, or we spend an inordinate
amount of time worrying about things that could happen in the future.
However, when we seek the Lord and His righteousness, we are living
our lives trusting and depending on Him one day at a time.
He advises us that tomorrow we will have enough to deal with when
we get there. In essence, God is saying that when we spend too much
time worrying about future problems, we are increasing our level of
misery.
It is okay to have concerns and to make plans, but ‘worrying’ about
our potential problems shows a lack of our faith and trust in the Lord.
When we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, we know we can
trust Him to help us in our time (or times) of need.
Those who don’t belong to the Lord, do not have the luxury of trusting
in Him to always be with them in all circumstances. Consequently, they
depend on themselves for everything. They can be devastated when they
fail to achieve the goals they have set for themselves and/or things don’t
work out the way they hoped they would.
When goals like financial gains, business or social prestige, expensive
homes and automobiles, etc. become our greatest motivation for all
we do, we can be assured that our priorities need to be realigned.
When we don’t belong to the Lord and we fall short of our personal
goals, we miss out on the benefit of the presence of the Lord (the One
who loves and understands us) to help, console, guide and encourage
us. It can create in us a feeling of ‘aloneness’ in us that seems hopeless
and overwhelming.
As a result of these gloomy feelings, some look for ways to ‘numb’
the feelings of failure and hopelessness by any worldly means that
are available. Some can become addicted to alcohol, drugs (either
prescription or illicit), and sexual lust in an effort to overcome their
feelings of insecurity.
Others can find themselves in bondage to creditors when they continue
their personal efforts to achieve their worldly goals. Instead of fulfilling
the lust they have for the material goals they desire, they find that their
difficulties still remain, but they have introduced new types of problems
into their lives as well.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to spend some time evaluating our
priorities, and making a conscious effort to rearrange them in the correct
order. God’s Word tells us that when our priorities are in the sequence they
should be, “all these things will be given to us as well”.
Paul gives us some advice for managing our thoughts (which can help
for us when we assess our current priorities and reorder them in a way
that will benefit us both now, and eternally):
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever
is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent
or praiseworthy – think about such things.
(Philippians 4:8)
ACTION:
What is your number one priority? Are you seeking His kingdom
and His righteousness? Are you more concerned about obeying
the Lord than anything else? Is your trust in the Lord, or is it in
what you can do for yourself? Who do you turn to when problems
arise in your life?
God’s Word is true and can be trusted. When He says He will
provide for our needs, we can be assured that He will! But we
need to align our priorities so that ‘seeking Him’ is at the top
of our list. A good start is to include prayer as our first priority
when we awaken each morning (yes, even before coffee (smile)).
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for watching over me. You are the
God I can depend on in my time of need. If I have not given You
Your rightful place in my life, then help me to make the changes
I must make so my relationship with You will be the highest and
first priority in everything I do. Thank You for the blessings You
have given me, and for Your promises of additional blessings when
I seek Your kingdom and Your righteousness. Thank You for loving
me when my failures prevent me from being able to love myself.”
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