Jesus said, “...
go in search of God’s kingdom and his concept of what is right, then all these
things will be yours as well.”
—
Matthew 6:33 (USC)
God’s will
is that we so fall in love with him, his Word, his Spirit, and his wisdom and righteousness
that we would want nothing more than to do his will.
Now, the opposite
place to this place, above, is where we are so backwashed in a desire of our
hearts that doesn’t appear, for that time being at least, to be the will of
God. Maybe it’s a relationship outcome we are desperate for. Perhaps it’s a sin
to be released from (which would have to be God’s will). Possibly it’s a career
or family goal that’s continually blocked.
When nothing that
isn’t important to God is sought, we are closer to being in alignment with his
purposes. When we find ourselves subsumed in God, his purposes comes alive in
us, and suddenly joy is possible; peace, too.
The best protection
afforded the spiritual life is the willingness to throw all away to be
captivated by God’s exigent will.
That’s the very real
meaning of life: to urgently press into God’s will.
That is, to want
every one of our relationships to be a blessing to the other person; to use
time wisely without coveting it; to be ever in touch, prayerfully, with the
Holy Spirit; to plan the accomplishment of every good thing that it’s obvious
is for us to do, et cetera.
The purpose of our
lives, as Matthew 6:33 ascribes, is to get lost in the pursuit of God; to
continue each day to go in search of his Kingdom and his righteousness.
Getting lost in the
pursuit of God is to be found in the very thick of ourselves.
When we divine the
perfect will of God, as we can discern it in our own lives, we are in the lap
of his Presence as well as being in the sweet spot of his joy!
Matthew 6:33 is the
first-things-first of faith. If we put this instruction in our minds, and fix
it there, and we ask God’s Spirit to engrave it on our hearts, we will most
certainly ever experience God’s blessed Presence to the ends of knowing and
wanting his will over our lives.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. We often think of our will over
God’s will — when we do factor God into the equation. How can we more
frequently have God front and centre of mind?
2. What will it be like when God is
actually at the forefront of our thinking most of the time? If you are already
there, or have been there, how do you maintain such a relationship with the
living Lord?
3. What desires of your heart might
you need to surrender to God in order to align with the desires of his heart
(which occasionally may, in fact, be the same as we learn later)?
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
Note: USC version is Under the Southern Cross, The New Testament in Australian English
(2014). This translation was painstakingly developed by Dr. Richard Moore, a NT
Greek scholar, over nearly thirty years.
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