Faith

I'm thankful this morning for so many things. One that's brought me to my blog is my job. I was in a pastor's office when he helped me to see that the way out of my current dilemma was to pay attention to the need at hand. I had a wife, and two children, and no job to support us. That was about 20½ years ago. I sat down, and figured out how much money I needed to support them, broke it down to an hourly wage, and began looking for a job that paid at least that much. I applied for a position as a bus driver, based on the wage. It turned out I had an aptitude for the job as well, which came to light as I went through the hiring process.

At the time my idea of how I would fulfill the calling on my life was dramatically different than what it is now. And the idea of getting a job like bus driving seemed to be far from what God would have in mind for me. I thought I was headed for being a pastor of a church quite frankly. And yet at the same time I thought God's will for my life would be foreign, strange, and unexpected. I didn't realize that God's will for my life would be as simple as the bible says. Let's start with that verse about whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do with all your might.

• Ecclesiastes 9:9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. (ESV)

Wow! There's lots more there on this topic than I realized, God's so good! I often find if I go an look up a scripture that's only partially come to mind, that God has something more for me there than I initially realize! I think the "wife" here is figurative as well as literal. One's wife is what one is devoting one's self to. If you're unable to put your spouse first, don't have a spouse. And realize this from the start. But if you have a wife, devote yourself to her, meaning she has a high place in the day to day priorities of life, the first priority. Second only to God himself. Salomon's labeling of our lives as "vain" is intriguing! There is no work or toil in the grave . . . and then finally he lists the six basic pursuits, swift, strong, wise, riches, intelligence, or knowledge. And then notes that "time and chance" happen to them all. Those pursuits may be for happiness, or security, or for peace . . . I think the list refers back to the wife reference. Its a famous expression amoung the youth I've spoken to, "I'm not going to end up like..." and they have some person (usually their parents) whom they're not going to end up like. They have come up with the opposite of role model. They know what they DO NOT want to end up like. I call this living life according to a negative rather than a positive.

So to really boil it down to a simple statement, how 'bout "Apply yourself with your whole heart to the demands of the moment". What we perceive as a "demand" comes from within. And a demand can only come from who is in charge. What scares you the most, what causes you to stop whatever you are doing and listen, and obey. Its like you're walking along through the woods, looking for food cuz you're starving. . . when suddenly! a rifle shot, a bullet whizzing hissing hits the tree beside you and showers your face with splinters! You dive for the ground, no longer thinking of hunger! That's a demand! With that another couple of verses spring to mind, Matthew 6:33-34, and Proverbs 1:7

• Mt 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)
• Pr 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (ESV)

Jesus is the one speaking in Matthew 6 here. Its part of the "Sermon On The Mount."

God is the only one you need ever fear, all else is secondary. "His Kingdom" is one which acknowledges him as supreme. And HE IS supreme. To "seek" that is to acknowledge it, and to interpret all that happens in the light of that ultimate truth,

• Romans 1:²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

And there in vs 34 of Matthew 6 we see "the moment" don't worry about tomorrow, take care of today. Looking at "His Kingdom" would simply be defined as what? Let's go to Websters on-line and see what they have to say, I looked up "kingdom"

• "a politically organized community or major territorial unit having a monarchical form of government headed by a king or queen"

HIS kingdom would give us the mono- of monarch. Sole authority. Very foreign to us democracy types. We've steered away from having one person in charge. For what? To get away from corruption and abuse? Really? Yet God's word says that HE is in charge, it IS his kingdom! He's on the throne! Regardless of whatever else gives us cause to fear, our primary concern is God's opinion on matters at hand. The story of Robin Hood comes to mind. His allegiance is to the King Richard, and his rebellion against Prince John is due to Prince John's rebellion against King Richard. Note that Robin Hood cares for the needs of the helpless go read Matthew 25:31-46 for a tangent I'll resist for now! Robin Hood doesn't willingly martyr himself, who would care for the needy?


His Righteousness? Well if the one in charge has such a thing, we'd better make sure we know what that is! There is a differentiation being made here between His Righteousness and any other kind of righteousness, but first of all Jesus is telling us that we need it! There are two basic pursuits above all others. His Kingdom and His Righteousness. And the promise is that "all these things" will be added as well. That's a reference to all the things Jesus has just spoken about in the previous verses of Matthew chapter six.


So, what is His Righteousness?

• Matthew 22:36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

I'll give you a clue, Jesus is "His Righteousness" through him we have forgiveness... that's where we all need to start. And that forgiveness comes through us acknowledging we have not lived according to the rule of God's authority - the term we know so well - sin.

• Romans 14:23 ". . . and everything that does not come from faith is sin."

Jesus is talking about living by faith. Faith begins, continues, and ends with those two things, "His Kingdom" and "His Righteousness".