Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.
Seek to serve God. First. He knows our needs. He knows what is in our hearts. Our troubles. And our fears.
But when we put Him first, everything begins to come together. No longer do we live in abject fear of what is going to happen tomorrow. We do not regret what has happened in the past.
Instead, we see God’s hand in everything. All throughout our lives.
But only when we seek Him first.
Seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.
God is not a slot machine…
We tend to see God as some sort of slot machine. If we put the money (prayers) into the machine (God), He’ll give us what we want. Cars, houses, fortunes, fame.
But God doesn’t work that way.
Our perception is a little like creating a cookie and expecting to eat it. But the cookie decides it wants to be ice cream. It tries to make a deal with us, trading a chocolate chip for the expectation of gaining something it doesn’t deserve.
Or a person who decides that the Creator of the universe owes him something of physical value based on some works that he performed.
Either way, it isn’t what our relationship to God is all about.
Our place in this kingdom…
We don’t always get what we want. Just like a good parent who sees that too much candy can make their child sick, God doesn’t give us things that will harm our salvation.
Wealth, for example, isn’t for us. It is for giving away. There are many people who have nothing. If those who have much give away to those who do not, they will not remain attached to the world.
It is called “alms.” This form of generosity is done to please God, not ourselves. If He comes first in any action, it sanctifies that act.
Everything we do must be done to His glory. And everything we have is given to us for His sake. We are mere stewards. We are servants of the King of kings. The cup bearers for Him so that we can further his Kingship in the hearts of the lost.
We are here to serve Him.
The perfect prayer…
Our primary prayer should be the one Jesus gave us.
Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be They Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our Daily Bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13
When we pray, we should use the Lord’s Prayer as our model. Honor and praise to God our Father in heaven.
His kingdom has come through the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and King of kings.
We should pray to do His Will, not our own. As Mary our Mother exemplified, we need to do His Will on earth as it reflects His Will in Heaven.
Our Daily Bread – the Eucharist. The Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not food for the body; food for the soul.
We must forgive others for what they have done unjustly to us. For as much as we forgive them, so, too, shall we be forgiven by Our Father in Heaven.
God does not lead us into temptation, but He does allow temptations to occur. We are begging for Him to keep us from falling into sin. “Deliver us from evil.”
Seek ye first…
And do not think that your will should in any way supersede that of God’s. What looks to be unjust, difficult, or even deadly to our physical being here on earth, should be seen from an eagle eye vantage point.
When we see the things going on around us, we need to also see the bigger picture. If we don’t we will lose perspective of what God is doing.
Things aren’t always what they seem from a human standpoint.
Right now, God is allowing sin to run its course. He is allowing it to go to its ultimate extreme. Not for the sake of punishing us, but for the sake of giving us the chance to correct the errors of our ways.
His plans are plans fashioned in Mercy.
The results will be just.
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…”
Matthew 6:33a
And…
“…and all these things shall be yours as well.”
Matthew 6:33b
What “things”?
Jesus answers this in the two previous verses:
“31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”
Matthew 6:31-32
Do God’s Will first, regardless of the cost. He will not leave you forsaken.
Just keep in mind that He will always take care of your spiritual needs first. If your life, possessions, relationships, family are to be preserved as well, then it will be determined according to His overall Will.
But if these things are take from us, we have to, even in the midst of our sorrow, remember that God has a reason for everything He does. That reason may not be readily seen in the midst of the chaos, nor may it be seen in this lifetime at all. But there is a reason. And it for the good of the Body of Christ, not just you.
Salvation comes from suffering…
Our salvation and the salvation of others comes from our suffering. Graces flow when we offer these things to God, joining our sacrifices to the Passion of Christ.
It is difficult. And I will be the first that in my own human strength I will not endure what is to come. But in joining St. Paul, I must proclaim,
“I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
In this we must all trust that God will not leave us or abandon us. It won’t be about what the Church looks like, or the interpretation of how morality is being redefined by those outside the walls of her structure.
It will be about following His Unchanging Teachings and our relationship with Him.
Are we willing to pray? Are we willing to suffer? And are we willing to take full advantage of the Sacraments while they still may be found readily available to us?
Times coming are on our doorstep…
We haven’t much time before all the weight of the world’s sins will come crashing down around our ears. Seers and people alike feel that something is very wrong about what is happening today.
And it is.
Those who deny that these days of global unrest and uncertainty are just like any other in the history of mankind are sadly mistaken.
For the first time in our history we are interconnected in a way unable to be done millennia ago. What happens across the globe is broadcast in our living rooms in seconds.
Manipulation of the environment and our food supply, coupled with drugs set to destroy the human body or change who the person is are at the fingertips of those who are in charge of our world. They seek to destroy all of humanity, turning us into robots for their pleasure and control.
Is this science fiction? Or reality?
Some say all of this is true. Others disagree.
We shall soon find out. Our world has reached the precipice, and there is no turning back from the leap off the proverbial cliff.
Turn your hearts to God…
Salvation will not be found in elections, nor in man. No evil of this magnitude can ever be reversed by our will. It must be through supernatural intervention.
It is coming. Where our place in all of this is to be, we do not yet understand.
Grow close to God. Seek Him. He will show you what to do. And He will carry you through this trial. Not by material gain, but by miraculous means. Not by a physical salvation, but a supernatural one.
The price of your soul to Him is more valuable than anything created in this universe. And right now, the enemy seeks to destroy it.
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. He will take care of the rest.