Good Way First

This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah6:16NIV

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness… Matthew6:33NIV

There are many ways out there, and when you are young there is the tendency to try a few of them without thinking of the consequences, or where they will end up. Everyone who is older, has been young once, but sometimes our younger folks don’t realise that, or they seem to think it was different way back then in the dark ages! Spoiler alert. It wasn’t any different!

The saying ‘older and wiser’ is there for a reason, and should not be discounted. Wiser doesn’t mean educated with a diploma, but experienced by virtue of the school of hard knocks graduated with a first class honours degree. I don’t say every older person has tried every road or path in life, but between us we have walked a good few. Bad destinations that you don’t recognise while you are having fun. Rough terrain but you know you can handle it. Peaks and hills that tire you out, but don’t worry there’s always tomorrow morning to sleep it off. And you will always find ‘friends’ who will help you try out as many of these paths as you can, after all you are only young once, right? Yes, I have heard it before.

You don’t really need to know it from the Bible although it is very clear there, but that piece of common sense we all have tells us that it is better to find the good way, and not to waste our life searching for the best of a bad bunch of misleading paths. Can I let you into a secret? Taking the good way really doesn’t rob you of fun, or a worthwhile experience. It’s true. The Bible puts it as ‘rest for your souls’ but that can’t be a bad thing, can it? Who, in this life, doesn’t want some peace at any age?

The key question is how do we find that good way, and know it for sure? Spoiler alert number 2. It’s using more common sense, but it might help to know the rest of the text at the top of the post. You don’t need to be educated to understand the meaning, so here it is…..

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness… and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew6:33NIV. Now tell me, how good is that? I’ll tell you, it’s unbeatable!

The TOP

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33

I think I have been reading this verse wrong for a long time. Jesus isn’t saying we need to stop sinning and find the Kingdom of God, although that is also true. He is saying this to those who already have followed Jesus up the mountain. They want more of His words of wisdom. They have followed Him, and are already convinced, and now their Messiah is coaching them on the sermon on the mount to greater truth.

Most, if not all who read this, are doing their best to live righteously as this verse commands, so we are part way there. In among all of our right living, we are also seeking the Kingdom of God. That becomes one of our many goals. But Jesus says we must put our seeking of His Kingdom FIRST. Not one of a list of ‘to dos’ but right at the top of every Christian’s “Things to Do”.

Only when we do that, Jesus says: He will give you/me everything we need. How good is that? So will we start today to “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else”? We have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. What a great thought.

Looking or Seeing?

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1

How often do husbands, ask their wife where something has been put, and when told, they still can’t put their hands on it? Has it been moved? No, because invariably the wife, usually with a sigh, will go directly to the place, and without looking, pick up the thing which the man ‘looked for’ and didn’t see. It’s almost embarrassing for the man, and a point scored for the wife.

Why is the missing item not noticed the first time? It is safe to say that the man looked, but didn’t see because he didn’t search closely. The apostle John right at the start of this short letter wants to set the record straight. He makes the point that the early apostles listened to, and saw Jesus with their own eyes, and not only that, to emphasise the point he goes on to say, “we have looked”. There could be no doubt for the skeptics or unbelievers here, because these early disciples were absolutely certain that they had found the long looked for Messiah. They were so sure of it that almost every one of the early disciples died speaking this truth. They could not deny what they had seen and looked at!

The obvious lesson for us today is clear. When we look for God’s will, or read the Scriptures, how much goes in and stays in our minds? How diligently do we look for His direction? The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah says it well when he records: You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13