“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33, NIV)
Whether or not you are married, you can answer this question: Does your marriage begin or end on the day of your wedding?
For golfers, we might look at it like this. The day you fell in love with golf is the day you really began to work at it. Before you were only messing around, toying with the thing. But when golf got hold of you—ah, how you loved to seek more answers for making your game better!
In the same way, our relationship with Jesus was not meant to end with salvation. That is, while the day he rescued our heart may have been the end of our flesh-satisfying, idol-worshipping, self-loving quest in this life, it was also the beginning of something new and wondrous: a life with him.
When Jesus said that we are to “seek first his kingdom,” this was not a matter of numerical order. Rather, Jesus was speaking in terms of priorities. Seek his kingdom above all else—put this very biggest thing first in your life—and the rest of living will fall into place.
Seek God’s righteousness and live it out against the tide of sin, and what you will find is this: a distinct lack of consequential trouble.The trouble, of course, is that our old self resists. It wants to relax. Or argue. Or run. It wants little to do with this further seeking, like a man who gives a woman a ring then shows minimal interest in her thereafter. What kind of husband would this be? Certainly not one patterning his life after the bridegroom who is Jesus.
So when we come to Jesus, we are meant to see this as the first step in our “walk with him.” It’s a common expression, a bit too overused perhaps, but fitting. He doesn’t want us to stand still; he loves to see us gain ground.
This is the reason for study and prayer and meaningful discussion among those who want to follow him. The fruit of study and prayer and discussion is intended to be obedience. We allow the written word, the personal word, and the corporate word to compel us to do the right thing. And a whole column of “right things” adds up to righteousness.
Some would dismiss the instructions of Scripture as quaint, remnants of another time. But they still work. Seek God’s righteousness and live it out against the tide of sin, and what you will find is this: a distinct lack of consequential trouble. Yes, there will be difficulty in your life—from the sin that touches you from within and without. But when we do things as God would have us do them, when we live as though Jesus really is King and Lord, we find a path of least resistance, for God does honor those who earnestly honor him.
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Jeff Hopper
Originally published March 17, 2011
Copyright 2011 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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