Seeking the Kingdom of God

Matthew 6:33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
What is the kingdom of God? And where do I find it?  According to Dallas Willard, the kingdom of God is God in action and we find the kingdom of God everywhere. But in order to find the kingdom of God, we must first seek it. 
Interestingly, Jesus doesn't say "Go find the kingdom of God." When I lose my keys, the first thing I do is to seek where I might have misplaced them. I seek to find my keys everywhere. Similarly, we are told by Jesus to seek God in action—the kingdom of God—everywhere. 
When I examine my daily life, I see that for much of the day, I seek other things. I seek comfort, I seek harmony, I seek friendship, I seek wisdom, I seek stimulation. These are not "bad" things in themselves, but when they take precedence over seeking the kingdom of God, they elude me. Why is this? Why am I unable to find peace? Why am I unable to find deep friendships?  Jesus says that if I seek the kingdom of God, I will find EVERYTHING that I need. Surely you agree that when Jesus speaks, we should do what He says. In essence, Jesus is saying that when we seek God in action—the kingdom of God—we will find everything we need. 
When I start the day, I  am immediately distracted. I turn to Facebook, CNN, emails, box scores, hoping that these will somehow satiate the longings of my heart. (If you really want to know what you seek each day, review your browser history).  We are easily distracted. In C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters, Uncle Screwtape encourages his nephew, Wormwood to "find anything or nothing to attract [the Christian's} wandering attention. Wormwood no longer needs a good book, which the Christian really likes, to keep him from his prayers or his work or his sleep; a column of advertisements in yesterday’s paper will do." The objective of the evil one is to distract us from seeking the kingdom of God. 
I pray that I will seek the kingdom of God first, today and always. Amen. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Facebook and Envy

James 3:16   For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. Proverbs 14:30   A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. I am ending my relationship with Facebook and it’s not because of privacy issues—it’s because Facebook feeds the “green-eyed monster” within.   After spending fifteen minutes (it’s estimated the average viewer will have wasted 40 entire days scrolling and liking and commenting on pictures and posts in a 10 year period) viewing posts about running marathons, new cars, perfect families, thrilling vacations, and social events I wasn’t invited to, I am convinced that everyone’s world is made of “sunshine, lollipops and everything wonderful” except for my own.   I envy the number of likes and comments of my eighty-two friends (recently I posted something provocative and received two likes and no comments!) Facebook exacerbates my envy of others and I hate myself for allowing it to af
Read more

Longing

Longing It is right for me to feel this way about you, since I have you in my heart, for whether I am in chains, or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me, God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Jesus Christ. Longing for something is much more than just wanting something.   Longing is primal, a craving, a hungering.   Longing is not being able to live without whatever the object of my longing is.   In a the documentary, Nothing Left Unsaid , a nostalgic Gloria Vanderbilt shares with her son (CNN’s Anderson Cooper) that for all of her ninety-five years, she has achingly longed for a home. She was raised by nannies away from her divorced mother who resided in Paris.   After a few years of living in a mansion on the east coast, she was sent to live with her aunt.   Then back to the nanny. Then back to her mother. Then back to the nanny. Her life was a never-ending transition.   Vanderbilt longed for a permanent refu
Read more

Day of the Locusts

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” Joel 2:25 Very few films stay with me, but the 1975 film, Day of the Locusts , is one that I have never forgotten. The film is about three wannabes and desperadoes who are sucked into the Hollywood system of sycophants, diggers, and parasites. They listen and fall victim to Hollywood’s sirens: glamor, money, fame, sex, and adoration. I want to say that I have never succumbed to such voices, that I never “crossed to death's other Kingdom,” (T.S. Eliot) but truth be told, I have wasted many of my sixty-six years. Those years nearly cost me my children and my wife, who will tell you that I not only changed spiritually but physically—my eyes were vacuous gray, my skin jaundiced-like.   Satan had his way with me. Locusts ravaged my life and the lives of my family.   How does one get to a place where nothing matters but the satiation of selfish appetites? It begins with seemingly inconsequential sins. In Bruce L. Bake
Read more