Seek!

Seek!

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 KJV

The Context and Focus:

Once again, the first sermon of Jesus on the Mount, right at the start of his public ministry, is the focus of today's devotion. Jesus was speaking to His disciples, even though there was a crowd right at the foot of the mountain also listening to Him. His focus here was on His kingdom, and what it would take to be a partaker of the blessings and benefits of that kingdom. There is no compulson placed on anyone who is not a citizen of this kingdom. Jesus spoke on issues ranging from purity, to anger and malice. If i want to be a part of this kingdom, I must personally know and be committed to the rules governing this kingdom. As it was then, so it is now. There will always be the crowd, listening to all that is said and preached, and then some will move into being disciples. It is not an automatic process, where the crowd suddenly becomes converted, but there is an experience, called salvation, that those in the crowd must go through in order to become disciples. This experience is fundamental; it is not something to be ignored. You cannot substitute this experience with anything else.

The Message:

God has provided the grace, information and help I need to make the right choice. The instruction in today's verse is that I SEEK first the kingdom of God. To seek means to know the value of what you need to find, and being ready to devote the time, effort and resources required to ensure you lay hold of what you seek. There is a guarantee that if I seek God, I will find Him. God has made that promise since the beginning of time, and there are written records of men who sought God with all their hearts, and we see the evidence of God's grace upon their lives. I note the bit about their hearts being committed to the search, because you cannot give half-hearted devotion to anything, and expect that it will give you full benefits. You can only place a demand on something you have invested something into. All God needs from me is sincere effort, and He will provide sufficient grace for the journey ahead. The kingdom must also take first priority, because it is the only place that endures forever. Whatever else you lay your hand will either expire or be destroyed,.

The Conclusion:

If my heart is right, and it is sincerely seeking God, and his righteousness, there is a standing promise that I will get all the things the world will generally kill for. The world has no one to fight for it expect itself, and that is why the men of the world will lie, steal, cheat and kill, just to lay hold of the treasures of the world. The world will not give you anything free of charge, but it will place a demand on all it gives you. Unfortunately, nothing the world gives you will last. The provisions of the world can only sustain you for a while, but it is important to secure that which is eternal. When the priorities of the kingdom of God are my own priorities, God knows he has my heart and nothing can replace Him in my heart. Could it be that the reason why God has not given access to some benefits is because He knows that those things will drag my heart away from Him? When God says NO, it is because He has a bigger and better YES somewhere down the line. I must trust that God knows what He is doing, and He is powerful enough to be able to fulfill that which He has promised. When you have Him, you have everything. If you don't have him, nothing else you have matters. God's time of favour is here.