First Things First
by Matt Leung
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33
Inevitably, when I read this scripture, the first thing that comes to mind is a certain song I used to sing at church camp. Putting things to song isn’t in and of itself bad (it’s a really great way to remember the 50 states, in alphabetical order, for example). The problem for me in this case is that this catchy song has reduced the power of this verse into a simple melody, undercutting the profound statement it is. If you were to actually look into my life, it looks nothing like seek first the kingdom of God... Truthfully, if you wrote lyrics descriptive of me they would read something more like:
At church this Sunday God hit me with Matthew’s words and it got me thinking. I began to wonder if I believed this verse. From a logical perspective I really can’t argue against the falseness of it. It doesn’t contradict anything from the Bible, or contrast with what I’ve learned to be true. It simply states that: Seek God = A, all else = B, and if you do A, then B will happen.
My next thought was that maybe this is an idea that God wants us to take metaphorically and not literally, like when Jesus said I should gouge out my eyes if they’re causing me to sin. I mean God can’t seriously expect me to do this. My head says “I have 3 tests this week, so that means spending less time with God and studying first,” or “I’ve never mentioned Christ to this friend, if I mention it now, it could be really weird, so I’ll just not.”
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that seeking God’s kingdom cannot involve writing your paper or that sometimes it might not be best to bring up Christ in a conversation; but in my life, I have taken my own initiative in doing what I want first and finding time for God later. Because of this, I have noticed I hardly ever find time for God later. I’m too consumed with finding that perfect internship, looking for a recommendation, or keeping my reputation to worry about God’s kingdom. I find myself doing the things I want to first and then if I have time I seek God’s kingdom.
So, for me it’s more like I’ll do B (everything else) and if time permits I’ll do A (seek God and His kingdom). However, when I do things using my own equation, I end up not doing A at all, my time consumed by all of the B things, only to find out later that my pursuits were rather selfish and unproductive. My life is all about the B things, but I’m finding out those everything else pursuits don’t really bring me the happiness I imagined they would. Doing things my way has helped me realize that many of the B things in my life, like seeking a high GPA and a good letter of recommendation, stockpiling popularity, and living a life of comfort and safety don’t really bring me much worth holding onto.
I’m starting to wonder what it would look like to take this verse literally – to move it out of my mind and into my actions. This would mean I would look for God first, and then all else would be taken care of, a much different perspective than what I have now. It would mean trying to show God to the world, even when I’m having a horrible day. It might mean talking to a friend about Christ when it could be very awkward. It would, I think, require changing my entire schedule so that my attention is on God first and on my other ambitions second. And according to the equation (seek God first, and the other things second) the other things will be taken care of. This seems a little illogical, but then again what I am doing now (the “logical” way) doesn’t really seem to be bringing me joy and peace.
All along I have thought that doing B would make me happy, but recently I’ve come to realize that B – seeking my goals – will only make me happy if those things are continually trumped by A – seeking God. It seems that living out this scripture would require tons of faith, but I guess I should just dive in; because, the “illogical” thing to do would be to continue doing things the way I’m doing them now, feeling miserable as a result.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33
Inevitably, when I read this scripture, the first thing that comes to mind is a certain song I used to sing at church camp. Putting things to song isn’t in and of itself bad (it’s a really great way to remember the 50 states, in alphabetical order, for example). The problem for me in this case is that this catchy song has reduced the power of this verse into a simple melody, undercutting the profound statement it is. If you were to actually look into my life, it looks nothing like seek first the kingdom of God... Truthfully, if you wrote lyrics descriptive of me they would read something more like:
Seek my goals and benefits first,
Then if I have free time, maybe, I might go and seek God’s kingdom,
Women echo: (But only if it doesn’t require much work, Amen.)
At church this Sunday God hit me with Matthew’s words and it got me thinking. I began to wonder if I believed this verse. From a logical perspective I really can’t argue against the falseness of it. It doesn’t contradict anything from the Bible, or contrast with what I’ve learned to be true. It simply states that: Seek God = A, all else = B, and if you do A, then B will happen.
My next thought was that maybe this is an idea that God wants us to take metaphorically and not literally, like when Jesus said I should gouge out my eyes if they’re causing me to sin. I mean God can’t seriously expect me to do this. My head says “I have 3 tests this week, so that means spending less time with God and studying first,” or “I’ve never mentioned Christ to this friend, if I mention it now, it could be really weird, so I’ll just not.”
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that seeking God’s kingdom cannot involve writing your paper or that sometimes it might not be best to bring up Christ in a conversation; but in my life, I have taken my own initiative in doing what I want first and finding time for God later. Because of this, I have noticed I hardly ever find time for God later. I’m too consumed with finding that perfect internship, looking for a recommendation, or keeping my reputation to worry about God’s kingdom. I find myself doing the things I want to first and then if I have time I seek God’s kingdom.
So, for me it’s more like I’ll do B (everything else) and if time permits I’ll do A (seek God and His kingdom). However, when I do things using my own equation, I end up not doing A at all, my time consumed by all of the B things, only to find out later that my pursuits were rather selfish and unproductive. My life is all about the B things, but I’m finding out those everything else pursuits don’t really bring me the happiness I imagined they would. Doing things my way has helped me realize that many of the B things in my life, like seeking a high GPA and a good letter of recommendation, stockpiling popularity, and living a life of comfort and safety don’t really bring me much worth holding onto.
I’m starting to wonder what it would look like to take this verse literally – to move it out of my mind and into my actions. This would mean I would look for God first, and then all else would be taken care of, a much different perspective than what I have now. It would mean trying to show God to the world, even when I’m having a horrible day. It might mean talking to a friend about Christ when it could be very awkward. It would, I think, require changing my entire schedule so that my attention is on God first and on my other ambitions second. And according to the equation (seek God first, and the other things second) the other things will be taken care of. This seems a little illogical, but then again what I am doing now (the “logical” way) doesn’t really seem to be bringing me joy and peace.
All along I have thought that doing B would make me happy, but recently I’ve come to realize that B – seeking my goals – will only make me happy if those things are continually trumped by A – seeking God. It seems that living out this scripture would require tons of faith, but I guess I should just dive in; because, the “illogical” thing to do would be to continue doing things the way I’m doing them now, feeling miserable as a result.
posted at 1:16 PM
2 Comments:
delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:7
i think we often look for loopholes within Scripture and find ways in which we can get what we want or justify ourselves. i can look at the following psalm and think that God will give me what i want if i love Him, follow Him. i think what David is really getting at is that if the Lord is my joy, my pleasure, my satisfaction then my desires will shift in alignment with the character of God. Because i am enthralled by my Lord, i begin to see life through the lens of advancing His kingdom and everything that is part of that.
His desires become my own, His heartbeat my own.
i was feeling kind of depressed today for all the reasons you wrote this entry. and it really helped put things in perspective.
thanks.
Post a Comment
<< Home