Kingdom Seeker

     With all the things that flooded your mind as you awoke this morning, how much of it has caused anxiety and stress?  Which of those things are consuming your thoughts and actions right now? The fact they exist does not negate your Christianity. It just means your human and concerned with life. However, most of those "life" concerns are already taken care of and therefore should not take residence in the mind of a believer; but rather visit and quickly leave. Health. Job. Money. Food. School. Clothes. Electricity. House. Transportation.

    These are the things we spend our time and effort seeking. We are naturally self-seekers. This doesn't even account for the desires and pleasures we seek. Most of these things are necessities; provisions that cause us to fret and drive our motivation on a daily basis. Jesus told us plainly that our minds should be elsewhere. We should have the mind of Christ and the heart of God. His concern is about reaching those that don't know Him and help those that need Him. This is His will for the believers; the will of God at work in us is the Kingdom of God. We are to be Kingdom seekers.
   

There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. 

Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion - do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers - most of which are never even seen - don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Seep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

- Matthew 6:26-33 (The Message)

     The last verse of this passage (33) is most recognized in this translation, "But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." The word "seek" is from a greek word, zeteo, which means, "to think, meditate, reason, strive after, crave." When you have a craving for a certain food, all your planning and efforts will be first priority and put in place to satisfy that craving. During both pregnancies with our sons, my wife craved Chinese food. We had to make a way to get it at least 3 times a week. Just last night, both boys asked for Chinese food. I wonder why.

     What do we "seek" most in our daily lives. Does our Heavenly Father honor this word when we seek to help others in the midst of our most desperate need? Does He really expect us to be a Kingdom Seeker? Provisions, sometimes labeled miracles, are readily available for the believer who is a Kingdom seeker.  

     Just last week, on a Friday afternoon  one of our faithful members of this local body was shown from an EKG result that he had a major blockage and it would require surgery. He showed up early Sunday morning, as he always does, to drive the bus route and pick up families for the morning worship service. In the midst of a need for healing, he was being a Kingdom seeker first. He went back to the doctor on Monday to get a much different result - no blockage! No need for surgery! Each week our outreach ministry, Mat25, feeds and clothes the homeless from our ministry center in the heart of the community. Our outreach pastor told me that weekly the source of food gets to the bottom and there are more people to feed. They keep going back to the pot and the food keeps coming out. Sound familiar? This is modern day and local. They are busy being Kingdom seekers and God is providing for the ones being served and the ones serving. 

     You have needs today. God knows them. He will meet them. Don't be a self-seeker. Be a Kingdom seeker. Miracles are waiting to be released upon our obedience to His Word.