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Seek

             But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Mathew 6:33)

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)

          The other day I wrote about blessings and included the second passage above as part of the text. I want to come back to it today in terms of the first passage. Jesus told us that if we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, that food, drink, and clothing would be provided to us. I can’t help but think of the story told that when Sir Walter Raleigh tried to use his own business and property as an excuse for not doing what Queen Elizabeth 1 told him to, she told him that if he would see to her business (the kingdom,) she would see to his.

          This begs the question of what it means to seek His kingdom. Simply put, a kingdom is a place where a king rules, and where his rules are followed. The inhabitants either benefit or suffer either at the king’s choice (if he’s a bad king) or they benefit or suffer with the king, as the king benefits or suffers (if he’s a good king.) So to seek God’s kingdom involves living according to the laws, or principles, God establishes.

          This is where we tend to go wrong, because we start looking for the thou shalts and the thou shalt nots. This is where something Dallas Willard taught comes into play. It’s not about doing or not doing. It’s about becoming the sort of person who does or does not. Someone one else has said that you become like those with whom you spend time – whether in person or through reading. This suggests that seeking the kingdom has to do with spending time with God, praying, reading Scripture, and fellowshipping with saints in person or through books and letters.

          Another piece of the puzzle is not worrying. If we’re seeking the kingdom, we’ve been promised that our needs will be met. That dovetails nicely with the idea that if we are blessing others, God will bless us. And this is what takes me back to the Hurry up! Not yet! Because I’m basically in an in-between week. There’s one more piece that comes to mind that I’ll share tomorrow.

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