Hammer on Anvil '

The Gospel of Matthew is packed so full of wonderful wisdom that when I journal about my day's reading, it is hard to pin down one verse -- even one chapter -- on which to focus! But it's hard to beat this one, and I love how the New Living Translation puts it: "Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."

The NIV says it like this: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

What are "all these things" Jesus makes reference to here? Earlier in the chapter, Jesus exhorts His listeners to not worry about what they will eat or drink, nor what they will wear. He says "pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows you need them" (verse 32). The New Living Translation says, "These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers." The message is clear: if you follow Jesus, your focus should be on Him, not on what you perceive to be your own personal needs.

I'd like to ask you a question that Oswald Chambers poses in My Utmost for His Highest:

Are you so identified with the Lord’s life that you are simply a child of God, continually talking to Him and realizing that all things come from His hands? Do you continually say with amazement to your common-sense life – why do you want to turn me off here? Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?

Remember when Jesus was only 12 years old, and He stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it? They found Him in the temple courts, and basically asked Him how He could do such a thing, worrying them like that! Jesus expressed surprise at their obvious cluelessness, and asked, "Why were you searching for Me? Didn't you know I had to be in My Father's house?" (Luke 2:49).

Being in our Father's house does not mean being in a church building. It refers to our position in Christ, which is laid out pretty succinctly in the first chapter of Ephesians. He has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (vs. 3). He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight (vs. 4). In Him we have redemption through His blood (vs. 7).

When Jesus died, the veil of the temple -- a thick, heavy curtain which kept sinful men out of the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle -- was rent in two from top to bottom. We are no longer forbidden to approach God; in fact, Hebrews 4:16 tells us we are to approach the throne of God boldly! Yet how many of us still wallow in our past sins and feel we are too unworthy to approach Him?

Now back to Matthew 6:33. Because of our position in Christ, we are free to seek God and His righteousness. We are free to have open, constant, unbroken communion with God. We can experience his presence whether we are reading the Bible or at our desk at work or doing a load of laundry. To keep the lines of communication open, though, we must "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). If we spend a lot of time playing video games or watching television, obviously God's presence is not going to seem as real to us, because we are effectively tuning Him out. We are telling Him that our frivolous pursuits are more important to us than spending time with Him.

Many things distract us and pull us away from God's presence in this day and age. It is time for us to decide whom we will serve. Remember Matthew 6:24: "A man cannot serve two masters; either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other."

Christ has provided all we will ever need. Our place is to put Him first, and trust in Him to do the rest.