Seek ye first...

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

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 

 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 

And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 

And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 

For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth  rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 

I don't really know where or how to start this post  but this passage has been the sermon this Sunday, and praise be to God that He has open our ears to listen to his word and understand its implications.

Well it is common understood now by our family that God speaks throughout the whole of Scriptures so there isn't such a thing as some say: "The Lord has talked to me on this passage". 

However at times when we discuss sermons that we read and listen to we allow ourselves to be shocked by how much it has challenged our way of thinking; specially when the topics have been previously misunderstood or overlooked by us as we try to learn more of God's word.

Well this Sunday we have been very challenged indeed!!!

As we listen to the sermon we where challenged on the very basis of our belief in the Scriptures on our understanding of who God really is and our obedience as His servants. The Lord Jesus Christ when asked what was the greatest commandment in the law reply saying:  Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This reveal to us how God expects us to relate to Himself. 

The point about Elijah's dealings with the widow is that he asked her to make him a little cake first and then trust in the promise that although she could only do one little cake, she and her house would eat many days. In the same manner our Lord Jesus Christ said: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. It is interesting to note how God is gracious in the way He gives us promises following His commands.

Now on seeking first the kingdom of God, we must do ourselves the favour of remembering what are the implications of this commnadment:  Seek ye first the kingdom of God , NOT:  pleasures, our desires, entertainment, career achievements , satisfaction of self and so on. This list could go on and on but let us also remember that even in our smallest choices we are battling against God's will versus our nature and the world.

Let us remember the words of our Lord Jesus when he said:

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

(...)

We live like atheists!!

A very shoking statement indeed. But isn't it so true that at times we live as if God didn't even existed, professing something that our very actions deny!
Shouldn't we as professing Christians do more to " in all our ways acknowledge Him ( Prov3:6)" and be sure that He will direct our paths?
Isn't that a reality that quite often even  in our first hours awake we listen and read the news of a decaying, temporary world but do not take even 30 minutes to meditate on God's word about His eternal kingdom ?

Do we seek  first the kingdom of God and His righteousness knowing that no matter how hard it will be God will provide for all the other "things we need"?

Sounds though, doesn't it?  But let us remember that:

The more God's service is compared with other services the more reasonable and easy it will appear. Whatever difficulties or hardships we may imagine there are in the way of obedience, it is better a thousand times to go through them than to expose ourselves to the punishment of disobedience.  

The service of virtue is perfect liberty, the service of lust is perfect slavery![1]


In Christ the Saviour!!!


J Roque

[1] Matthew Henry's commentary