That I might have Life . . .

I can remember vividly, visiting my AA sponsor's house about 22 years ago. I can distinctly recall that he had a plaque that had been framed, and it said: "I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life, but instead He gave me life, that I may enjoy all things."

Powerful words to say the least! They are words that I have been pondering ever since.

When I asked him about it later, he told me, amongst other things, how much it has resonated with him, and he then described a bit of its application in his own life.

He said, "When I'm dedicated to my Prayer life, and I'm really connected to God, I feel whole! And one of the cool things about it is, when I keep that first in my life, it has a trickle down effect and everything else in my life seems a heck of a lot more enjoyable. It also makes it a lot easier to take inventory, and take my spiritual temperature too, because whenever I don't keep my relationship with God, and my spiritual condition first in my life, almost nothing is really enjoyable.

My pants don't fit right, my car doesn't drive well enough, My house isn't nice enough, I just don't ever seem to have ENOUGH!

But again, when I am connected to God through prayer and all of the other spiritual disciplines that I am supposed to be doing on a regular basis, and those things are number one in my life, suddenly I have great peace in my heart, and it's incredible how that totally changes my perspective on what I have in life. Suddenly everything fits right, tastes right, and I have more than ENOUGH!"

This story, and its moral, reminds me of two powerful passages of scripture in particular:

1.) Matthew 13:44

Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field."

What a beautiful picture, and how true to life it is, when we are finally open to a revelation of The Kingdom of God through a personal relationship with Christ!

It's not that God demands in every case that we literally sell everything we have to be able to stay in His Kingdom. This scriptural language speaks instead of the fact that AFTER HAVING BEEN SO BLESSED by God from the inside out, we would be willing to do it, if push came to shove, without Him even asking to ask us to! It is truly incredible that when we finally take a genuine position of surrender to Him and put Him first in our lives, suddenly there is a grace released to break the power of self-centered fear, and possessiveness in our life!

This thought brings us to the second passage of scripture for today:

2.) Matthew 6:33

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."

I find it extremely interesting that Jesus not only gives a command, but a promise on the same verse!

He doesn't minimize our needs, which God gave us in the first place. That wouldn't be the behavior of a just God, let alone a GOOD one, and it would actually be an extreme example of gaslighting.

No, thankfully our Lord is good, and then some!

He doesn't say seek ye ONLY the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, He says seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God

So He is acknowledging that there are other things on the list. He doesn't have a problem with you seeking a spouse. He created the dynamic of marriage! He doesn't have a problem with you wanting a nice house or a job you enjoy. Again, He created even the existence of these things, and actually created you with a desire for them, and He wants you to enjoy them, but IN THEIR PROPER PLACE!

What does that mean? . . . Spot number 1 should be taken, by Him! 🙏🏼

Whenever we try to replace our Creator with created things, or more to it, whenever we try to fill a God shaped hole with anything but God, all sorts of problems ensue.

Here I'll rely on the famous words of St Augustine, "our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You, oh God!"

Truer words have just about never been spoken!

Believe me, more than two and a half decades of my own personal experience EMPHATICALLY echo what our Lord Jesus, and St Augustine proclaimed, that when we love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, strength, and life, and genuinely put Him first in life, through a dedication and commitment to a consistent Prayer life, reading and studying the Bible, fellowship with other believers, and genuine service to others in general, we will know a Love, Peace, Joy, and eternal contentment than we have ever known before!

That in and of itself is its own reward!

Then we can appreciate all of those "trickle down" rewards more than we ever have as well, instead of constantly stressing out over whether we'll lose what we have, or will never have enough.

I think that it is fitting that I close with a quote that is very relevant to this topic, from the great C.S. Lewis,

"Put first things first and second things are thrown in, put second things first, and you will lose both first and second things."

Questions and Reflection:

Have I been genuinely keeping my relationship with God and His Kingdom, or ways of doing things, first in my life?

If not, how come?

What can I do to change this?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your Holy Spirit and for Your Presence Lord, for only in it and in You do we truly find contentment, perfect Peace, and "live and move, and have our being." Acts 17:28

We thank You also Lord for Your Holy Word, and the fact that You love and care for us so much, that You want us to know these immutable laws that You have installed in Your universe, so that we can act in harmony with them, and be successful, according to YOUR definition of success! For, "What does it profit a man, (or woman,) to gain the whole world but lose their soul in the process!?" Mark 8:34-38

Please Lord, release the grace and eternal Power necessary for those with ears to hear and eyes to see, of their need to turn from their former ways of doing things and start to put You first in their lives, again or maybe for the first time ever, through Prayer, through reading Your Word, through worship, and through fellowship with other believers in Your Body!

In the mightiest Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray, AMEN! 🙏🏼♥️👏🏼

I sincerely hope and Pray that today's devotional was a Blessing to you! We love you and are Praying for all who read this.

Feel free to leave a comment!

God Bless you mightily,

- Neil David Vandenbergh