Putting the Kingdom first

Putting the Kingdom first
Philippians 3v14: I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Well, I’ve literally just completed a post on my Bible blog about how God’s highest priority for the world is its salvation, and as I write this blog post, that thought is really making me think.  So often on THIS blog, I write about how I dream of greatness, and about how that is a big consideration in thinking of a husband.  And yet, this thought that the salvation of the world is God’s greatest priority, is always lying there at the back of my mind.  Ultimately, God does not care about my greatness, in and of itself.  Everything that is directed towards this life down here on earth will eventually crumble.  The only things that will outlive our earthly existence will be our relationships with God and one another and the work we have done for God in telling the world about His Son, and also too sacrificial expressions of love we have made towards one another.  So this thought is always there, somewhere in my mind, but every so often it will strike at me with renewed force and I will sit up, and I will be captivated….and then a few months later it will start to slowly slide from the centre of my mind and of my thoughts – until God’s Spirit reawakens it within me again.

You know what? My dreams, my yearning for greatness, even my marriage – I do not think that God particularly cares about any of these things, except for the sake of establishing His Kingdom, and seeing people brought into it. Actually, on second thoughts He does care about them, because He cares about me.  However, His overwhelming priority is to see others also saved into His Kingdom.  For me and for many Christians I know, it feels like the world is twinkling with a million possibilities, and it feels like such a sacrifice to have to turn away from these and to focus wholeheartedly on what He has called us to do, which is win the world for Him.  It is as if God created the world and everything in it to be good, but our focus now is not on enjoying those things and exploring our maximum potential within them. Rather this life down here is now focused on getting everyone into heaven, and then we can explore and enjoy to the maximum there.

So what does this have to do with Mr Huggie-Wuggie, and the task of finding him?  In a way, it does not change that much, because he still has to be an excellent guy, who gives his all.   However, once again I have to remember that everything, including my marriage, should be directed to the cause of the Kingdom of God.  Once again, I am having to remind myself that “my life” is not about me, it is not about my dreams, it is not even about my marriage.  Rather, it is about my God, and sharing the truth of His word, which He has re-established as the primary focus of my life, and of all our lives as Christians.  Sometimes, we Christians try to find clever ways of getting around this.  We know that we are supposed to make the sharing of the Gospel our highest priority, but secretly we wish to live lives defined by regular standards of success too.  It feels like too much of a sacrifice to give up the pursuit of our own greatness for the sake of sharing the Gospel, even though we know that we will not have to share the Gospel in Heaven.  So we say things like “I will share the Gospel by living the most successful life I can, and that will draw people to God….” No, people, simply no. This is what it means to deny ourselves.  It is not as if it is intrinsically wrong to pursue greatness.  If everyone was already a Christian, or if sin had never entered the world, I don’t think there would have been anything wrong with it at all.  Yet God has called us to give up this thing, which our hearts yearn for, which is not wrong in and of itself, to pursue His more important purpose.  I am not saying that we should not have jobs, or wear nice clothes, or eat ice-cream.  What I am saying is that everything has to be geared primarily towards our purpose down here on earth, which is to see people brought into God’s Kingdom.

So whether I get married, or whether I don’t get married, either way, it is all for God; it is for His Kingdom, it is for His ultimate purpose, which is to see people saved and restored to Him.  If this is God’s biggest priority, if He thought it big enough to sacrifice all that He had, then it must become my biggest priority too.  I’m going to try to give my all to this, as I believe that God created us to invest ourselves into whatever we pursue – but seriously, sincerely, it is not about me.   😉

Bible Verses
Mark 8v36:
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

Matthew 6v33:
But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you
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PHOTO CREDITS
Photo of Medals by Simona on Pixabay
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