Bob Hamp

          Jesus made this all-important statement in His very first sermon.  “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  “These things”, that he refers to, that will be added to you are the concerns of life; our family, our finances, the details of our existence.  “These things” will be taken care of if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

            Through the filters, we read this.  Try hard to do what God says and He will reward you with the things of life.  Be good and your life will work out the way you want.  This most common misconception of religion leads many to great disappointment, disillusionment and even resentment towards God.  It even keeps many away from Him.

            Read again, “Seek first the Kingdom of God…”  You see, we all have something we “seek first.”  It is the thing toward which most of our time energy, attention, and even resources are directed.  “ Seeking first” simply refers to that which is of highest value to us, and therefore has most of our attention.

            We all have some “thing” that we seek first.  Whatever that thing is, it becomes the thing that organizes the rest of my life.  If I seek first my marriage, everything in my life is ordered around my marriage.  If I seek first financial gain, everything in my life is organized around money.  Jesus is simply describing a principle of reality.  Whatever I seek first organizes every other facet of my life.  Now watch.

            If I seek first relief from frustration, the things that frustrate me are given power to organize all the other aspects of my life.  If I seek first relief from pain, my pain now becomes the organizing principle of my life.  Don’t blink here…If I seek first my freedom, my desires becomes the organizing factor in my life. 

            Jesus was telling us if we learn to make the Kingdom of God our first pursuit, (see recent entry “What is the Kingdom of God”) that our frustrations, our money, our pain, and even our freedom will be organized by God’s Kingdom.  Seeking first the meeting of  your needs will ultimately put you at the center of your life, the very thing that got the human race in trouble in the first place. 

NOTE:  The last two days entries, as well as several others, are excerpts from my upcoming book.  Keep an eye on bobhamp.com for updates on this book.  Thanks for reading.