Seek First His Kingdom

Matthew 6:19-34

Treasures in Heaven

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Do Not Worry

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Oh God, I will not worry. Instead, I will seek Your kingdom. For what should I want that will not be found there? What would I worry about that You cannot provide? Why would I look in other places for the Stuff of You? Forgive me for the times that I have. Let me forgive others for abandoning me when I need Your ambassadors surrounding me. Lord, ease my sadness. I know You cry with me. You are a God who wipes away my tears. God, thank You for Nature. 2,000 after You came to this Earth Your words still resonant when I see trees alive in this frost. They are living despite their outer conditions. And Spring is coming! Break it through my bones, God. Let me feel it. Do not let me grow tired. Let me desire what you desire. Let me listen and obey to true things and let me discard what is false. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear and the discernment to understand what You are doing. God thank You for making us Your great lilies, beings wandering life waiting to be known, waiting to be loved. Yet, You see us. You take joy in us. You are a God slow to anger, a lover of Mercy. Lord, let us know the wait is over. You have provided the birth, the new growth, that washed away our inequities. Now, we can grow in You. I desire to grow in You, Lord. Teach me Your ways. Free me from my sins and my addictions. Let me live a life of doing what the Father is doing.

Lord, let it be that my eyes would be floodlights of Your Truth and Your Love. Grant me sight to see others the way You meant them to be seen: through loving eyes that are aware of their plights and eager to rescue them. Let our eyes draw them in just as Your loving stare pierced us with Truth from You. Do not let me be in the darkness, Father. Do not let be contaminated by sin and evil because it makes me fall and becomes a stumbling block to my friends. I thank You for freeing me from the Law so that I may follow a living Judge who proclaims his righteousness humbly, as a servant. Make this servant's heart be my treasure. Let me grow closer to its beat by acts of humility: silences so that I may listen and hear, not finding my identity in my work but the ones who made it possible by preparing the way before me, letting other people name me a characteristic of You instead of flying that banner myself. Let me have a simple life. Not that it will refuse to tackle complexities; instead, Your double edged sword will pierce through lies in order to separate what seems complicated to a simple truth: is this act loving You or not? Am I obeying You or not? Yes, Lord, yes. Let me love in obedience.

Let me have a right relationship to obedience. Let me see it as freeing. I ask, Jesus, that You give me a heart to fill my storehouses with the treasure of discipline so that I might follow Your will. Grant this freedom to me, O Lord.

Lord, You are not a moth and You are not rust. You do not destroy as they destroy. You do not corrupt as they corrupt. You complete. You fulfill. You replenish. You make whole. You do works of creation and healing. You are my King and my Savior. You want to preserve me, to make me Salt and Light, substances that last beyond my earthly frame. Step into this body You've encased my soul in and guide me, through Your Spirit and Your Word. Let this be an offering of praise, an act of worship.

Lord, you alone are my Master. Let me serve only You.

In Your Strength, not my own,
Joshua