FRIDAY - 19TH APRIL, 2024
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL - Olusola ADEJUMO
FOR AFTER ALL THESE THINGS DO THE GENTILES SEEK - The Essence & Value Of Life Series 003
Matthew 6:31, KJV
"31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."
While what we shall eat, what we shall drink and wherewithal we shall be clothed creates anxiety and greediness in the nations of the world, God is saying we should be known for a different life and pursuit.
A Gentile is any person or nation of people that's not a Jew. We know that in Christ, there's no longer Jew or Gentile (when we are born again) - I Cor. 12:13. Such traditional wall has been collapsed, never to be rebuilt any longer. However, Jesus says, "for after these ephemerals do the Gentiles pursue after." The Gentiles here at the time of utterance obviously refer to non - Jews. However, it does well to refer to unbelievers and its world who don't have this light and truth to walk therein. Jesus says, "they can't but worry and exercise utmost pursuit and priority only for riches and what will sustain their bodies." They have erroneously believed that life in itself is all about what they could gain from it. This is why many evils are ranging in our world. You can't convince a fellow not to defraud for gain's sake if he is driven after "all these things." "All these things" dictate what the philosophy of people are based on in the work place. It is very easy to identify a man solely working for money or gains. Compromising won't be a taboo to him and he won't mind as long as it promises a reward. As such, God is calling us away from the sole and towering pursuit of "all these things" to the singular pursuit of purpose that could give "all these things." We know that pursuing purpose doesn't mean you wouldn't eat, drink, clothe yourself or own properties . However, that ain't what you're crazy about. It only means you have your priority reordered. You know that your life as a gift from God was not given you solely to come here to eat, drink, dine and while away time. You sure know that you have an essence and tangibility that towers above taking being with anything and everything that life could avail you in its riches and goods. Ask inventors who became real time billionaire and they'd told you that it was purpose and fulfilment of their calling which they sensed and pursued that launched them into fame and success by bringing to the world the discoveries and inventions in their hearts; and not gain that started or formed the basis of their enterprises. They rather wanted to meet needs. So, they went to work. At the end, the money they couldn't finish spending pours in.
Jesus not only teaches us what to do but exemplifies it Himself. During His temptation, the tempter had told him to turn a stone to bread. Jesus' reply is, "man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matt.4:4). That tells you what His priority is. It tells you Jesus cherishes the higher life and principles wherever He finds it. Jesus esteems daily instructions proceeding from revelation or the mouth of God than being caught up in debased, erratic living that doesn't give glory to God (at that time). He is not a For Food Only (F.F.O) person. His life transcends meat into the substantial that's tied to the kingdom and the living out of it.
God is asking you, "are you pursuing after "these things" as a Christian like the Gentiles are doing or you've been cured to see the need to give your life to a higher cause and purpose - God's Kingdom and His righteousness." Prioritizing God's kingdom and His righteousness over "all these things" doesn't mean becoming a pastor if you aren't called to be one. You don't need to become a minister of God before you seek God's kingdom and His righteousness. Don't be confused. You even don't need to be a worker in church! Yet, you can spread God's values without (outside the church). And as a matter of fact, we're called to spread it without. Those who are cured don't need a doctor. Isn't it? If you have discovered your calling or the purpose to live for, exhibiting daily the life and values of Christ to impact people would be living for the King and His Kingdom. That's when you'll be deemed to be seeking after God's righteousness. He is not seeking after God's righteousness neither is he spreading it a policeman who takes bribe, a teacher who indulges student in cheating and a business man who dupes others for gain. That is not living for the kingdom. That is not spreading God's righteousness. That is living for other things, for self, egocentrism and putting of oneself forward always - thinking "what can I gain from here?" Nobody thinks that way who fulfills his calling. What is right in that? All those will be wrong values. As we know, even our laws are against the exercise of those all. It means we know what is right even if we are not upholding it as stated in our law or constitution. When you seek God's kingdom and His righteousness, you prioritize living for God and living out His values of kindness, fairness, mercy, equity, honesty etc wherever you find yourself. You let the character of life rule you and rule your world. This way, you'll spread the knowledge of God's Kingdom and His righteousness even amidst the heathen. It is not God's will to take you out of the secular world where you live or work. It's rather His will to make you an instrument of change there. As you do this, you'll obviously become a city set on a hill that can't be hidden. Through you, men shall come to the knowledge of Christ and salvation by your modeling of how life should be lived, what it should be lived to possess or lived to spread. I pray for you, you will understand.
PRAYER: Lord, I will understand. I make the kingdom and its lifestyle my life. May I live above the Gentile's revelation of life.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Joshua 16:1-18:28, Luke 19:1-27, Psalm 87:1-7, Proverbs 13:11
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