When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. “. . . seek first the kingdom of God . . . .” Even the most spiritually-minded of us argue the exact opposite, saying, “But I must live; I must make a certain amount of money; I must be clothed; I must be fed.” The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God but how we are going to take care of ourselves to live. Jesus reversed the order by telling us to get the right relationship with God first, maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives, and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.

“. . . do not worry about your life. . .” ( Matthew 6:25 ). Our Lord pointed out that from His standpoint it is absolutely unreasonable for us to be anxious, worrying about how we will live. Jesus did not say that the person who takes no thought for anything in his life is blessed— no, that person is a fool.

But Jesus did teach that His disciple must make his relationship with God the dominating focus of his life, and to be cautiously carefree about everything else in comparison to that. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Don’t make food and drink the controlling factor of your life, but be focused absolutely on God.” Some people are careless about what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, having no business looking the way they do; they are careless with their earthly matters, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the greatest concern of life is to place our relationship with God first, and everything else second.

It is one of the most difficult, yet critical, disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into absolute harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.

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Journal Entry for Today

May 21, 2010

When I woke up and began my morning routine I was praying and worshipping. I was praying about the devotional and being and staying connected.

And God said…”You are my sheep, you hear my voice. I lead you and make the pastures green and available to you. But just like sheep you have a tendency to simply focus on the pasture and your grazing; so much so that you can graze your way out of sight of me because your eyes are on the green grass and not on me.

And then you only look up when you find something has changed, the pasture is not so green or suddenly you remember to look for your shepherd.

Keep your eyes on your Shepherd especially when you are grazing in the very green grass, stay in my Kingdom, and I will meet all your needs, every one. Being connected to me or keeping me in your sight so you can always know my leading is crucial to your well being on this earth. Whenever you take your eyes off me, regardless of how green the grass seems you begin to follow your own way and simply graze yourself out of my kingdom.

Stay connected, keep eye contract with me as you graze in my pastures, and I will meet all your needs.