“Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” (Luke 12:31, ESV)
Our verse of the week this week comes from Luke 12. Jesus says, “seek his kingdom.”
It is to desire, to long for, to pursue at all costs. It is to set the kingdom of God as our highest value in life. It is said that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. The point is that value is something we assign to an object or service.
Money is a measure of value. It is not a perfect measure. Neither is it the only measure. You can’t measure a person’s value solely by the amount of money in their bank account. But what we must recognize is that while money is not a perfect measure nor is it the only measure, money is an important measure of value.
Jesus recognized this. This was one of the reasons he talked about money as much as he talked about anything else. Money is the 500lbs gorilla in the room. It is something the church is often reluctant to talk about but is often the greatest hindrance to living in a more vibrant relationship with the Lord.
Our attitude towards money is one of the truest gauges of our trust, our faith, our relationship with the Lord. The thing about faith is it is unseen. It is hard to measure faith. But money is something that is easier to measure. What does it tell you about your relationship with God?
What are ways we seek the kingdom? It might be to open our Bibles early in the morning before anything else, eager to hear God. It might be to honor the Sabbath Day, keeping Sunday morning worship sacred in our schedules. It might be to double down in our prayer efforts. But consider some examples of Scriptures.
“And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”” (Luke 3:10–14, ESV)
The crowds were convicted by the message of John the Baptist. The asked what they should do in response. He doesn’t say pray more. He doesn’t say go to church. He doesn’t say read your Bible more. He talks about prioritizing their use of money and possessions.
“And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”” (Luke 19:8–10, ESV)
The spiritual transformation in Zaccheus is that he gives half his goods to the poor and restores those he defrauded. With this visible demonstration, Jesus declares salvation has come to this house. Understand that Zaccheus did not receive salvation because he gave his money away. But his use of money was a visible demonstration of his salvation.
“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44–45, ESV)
The description of the of the early church is that they believed. The very next thing they did was sell their possessions and give to those in need. And there are so many other stories similar stories in Scriptures where believers are called to let go of their money and possessions (see Acts 19:18–19, Marck 12:43–44, Matthew 19:21–22).
Life is filled with sacrifices. We make sacrifices for what we value. Do your sacrifices show you value the Kingdom above all else? Are you sacrificing the Kingdom or are your sacrificing for the Kingdom?
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