Christian Living

One of my favorite verses is Matthew 6:33:
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

This verse sums up the ideal Christian life so well. "Seek first His Kingdom" — simply put, place God at the top of your priorities. Base all your decisions on His word and the life He lived and died for us — "and His righteousness" — live your life in a way you believe Jesus would live. Seek to be right with God. At church this morning, the guest youth pastor spoke about Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats: the sheep, the righteous, were on the Shepherd's right side, and the goats, everyone else, were on His left. Here in Matthew 6:33, the word righteousness means being right with God: as the pastor put it today, be right with God; don't be left out.

Finally, the last phrase assures us that, "all these things will be given to you as well." In context, Jesus was reprimanding the Jews for worrying about having clothing and sufficient food; so here, Jesus tells the Jews that by following Him and putting Him above everything else, their needs would be provided for.

This verse is much like James 1:23:
"But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does." James, Jesus' own brother, writes to the Jews, who have been living in sin, claiming that they believe the Gospel but not taking any resultant action. The book of James focuses largely on faith and deeds, and in this verse, he shows the motivation for taking action. The one who studies the word and hides it in his heart then goes out and acts on it will be blessed by God. The Father will ensure that His will be carried out through that person because the person has submitted him- or herself to doing His will.

Again, in James 4:10, the apostle writes, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." Still more motivation to take action. When we allow God's will to take priority over our own, He rewards us. That reward may not be in this life, but that is not what we live for anyway. We live for the reward we will receive in Heaven. We live for the Father. And we live for the Son, who died for us. How could anyone want to do anything but serve the One who did the ultimate service for humankind?

Many of us struggle with sharing God's word with non-believers. I know I do. Part of it is that I'm not a very vocal person; I prefer to share my thoughts through writing and typing. So that's why I felt like I had to share this. The message of these verses is not complicated. In fact, if you were to read the verses on your own, I can just about guarantee that you would have figured out on your own what I've been saying. But the problem is actually doing what the verses say. James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." But even this does not convince many people. The world goes on even if we don't do anything, and God still loves us anyway. But James later says in chapter 2, verse 17, that faith alone, without accompanying action, is dead. If you won't let Christ's power work in you to change your life, don't even bother believing. There's a reason Peter said the steps to being saved are to 1) repent and 2) be baptized (Acts 2:38). To repent is to turn, to do a complete 180, and run away from sin and toward the loving arms of the Father. If we don't make a conscious effort to turn from our previous ways... well, then what good does believing do us?

So how do we share God's word with others? Honestly, I'm not the one to ask. I've never consciously witnessed to anyone successfully, as far as I know. But maybe that will change. All I can offer in terms of advice is this: Forget what everyone else thinks of you. Who cares if people judge you for being "religious"? After all, "what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Look back at Matthew 6:33. Witness, and God will provide. He will give you the words to speak, the Scripture to refer back to, and the wisdom and love to know what to share and how to share it.

Even doing this is a little uncomfortable for me because, in his letter to the Jews, James warns against being too eager to become teachers because they will be judged more strictly. I know I'm not perfect, and I also struggle with this area of my walk with God, but I felt like I needed to share this because "all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

So I ask that you think about this. Consider the pros and cons of sharing God's word with others. I pray that God will move in someone in some way through this and that someone will come away changed. And always remember, when it comes to living for Christ, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

God bless!

Michael

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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21