So what’s next? In Matthew 5-7, Jesus lays a foundation for us to build our lives upon. The gospel is not a big checklist of do’s and don’ts. God wants a relationship with us. He wants our hearts. Everything we do and say comes from within. God wants to be first in our lives. He wants us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. But what does that mean?
Before the foundation is laid for any structure, there has to be a plan in place for that structure. If not, the foundation may be too wide, or not wide enough. It may not be deep enough to support the size of the structure. There has to be a plan. The “Seek First” series is the beginning of that plan. Now we know what we want the building to look like. We want our lives to reflect Christ and to be centered around seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Now we need to define what that means for us. What does that look like?
The 90-day Foundation Repair challenge I have been working on is focused on daily bible reading, prayer, and physical exercise. Building a foundation for a healthy life. If our lives are to reflect Christ, we need to spend time in prayer and quiet time to talk to God and listen to him. We need to spend time reading through the Bible, thinking about what each verse may be saying to us. There are hundreds of voices trying to get our attention. Some come in the form of great authors and preachers. They are all well-meaning and want what is best. But we are all human and everything we speak and write is filtered through our experiences and understanding. There are too many Christians whose entire understanding of the bible has come from sermons and books about the bible. I was one of them for many years.
I am thankful for these teachers and authors. They help me see things from different perspectives. But, Jesus has warned us about the false prophets and the “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” They mean well, but their teachings are not truth. Many times, their teachings are based on truth, but they stray just a little. That slow fade from the truth starts to add up over time and one day we find ourselves way off course and don’t understand how we got here. “It’s o.k. if I watch this movie. It isn’t that bad.” “It’s o.k. if I listen to that music. I know lots of other Christians that listen to it and their lives aren’t too bad.” Or, one of my favorites that I have used, “I’m stronger than most people. That doesn’t affect me.” Those are all lies designed by the evil one to pull us just a little off course. It is o.k. and good to read those books about the bible and listen to the sermons, but always spend more time in the bible than you do in other writings.
“Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23
What does this have to do with building our foundation? What does this have to do with seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? When you pour a concrete foundation, the mixture has to be right for the concrete to be the right strength. Without the right combination of products, the foundation will not be strong enough. Too much of one ingredient, and the foundation will crumble. When our lives are not built on God’s truth, we crumble. We all fall and make mistakes, some of us multiple times a day. That is part of life and that is where the love and grace of God takes over. He offers his forgiveness and accepts us back with loving arms. But these failures are designed to be learning points, not faults that are to be repeated over and over again.
The entertainment industry provides a lot of good entertainment that I enjoy. That is one of my biggest struggles. Since I have been looking at life through the filter of Seek First, there are a lot of movies I start to watch, and am embarrassed that I used to think that was a great movie. I see changes in my life as I get back to building my foundation on the Bible, and not just good books. My eyes are open to more of the spiritual warfare going on around me as I work more to guard my heart. I am less stressed. I am more at peace. Tough situations at work go smoother when I seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. All of the little things in life that I used to spend hours trying to figure out really do take care of themselves. Well, God takes care of them for me.
What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? It means to get back to the basics. Get back to reading the Bible more than other books. It means to guard your heart and protect it from getting off course. It means to get back to spending extended quiet time with God in prayer. (That is the one I struggle with the most.) It means to get the foundation for our lives built solid and secure before we try to build our lives.
It does not mean can not have fun. It does not mean our lives are to be boring and all we do is sit around and read the Bible and pray. These things are to build a foundation on which we build a fun, exciting life that reflects the joy and excitement of Christ. A life of freedom and peace. A life that is exciting and attractive. When people see our lives they should see the joy of the Lord in everything we do.
The Joy of the Lord is my strength.
Nehemiah 8:10
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4: 4-7
