Seeking Things in Proper Order
Good Morning Friends,
It seems that I am always looking for something. It is usually my keys, my glasses, my cell phone, a business card, or a tool I laid down. And then on occasion, often in the pantry, I sometimes seek for the reason I went in there in the first place. I retrace my steps and the prompts come that make it clear the importance of Seeking Things in Proper Order.
Scripture: Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:26-30 (NRSV)
Message: Letting God be first is not always easy. Picking God to be the first person on your team is often hard. There are always choices in seeking order. We can stay put hoping what we seek will come to us and then sometimes we have to go out into the world to find them. We get disoriented in seeking things out of order. We think it is important for us to put ourselves in unison with the order of the world…to get the recipe right. But questing for the patterns is often a discomfort, for behind what we think is order is often chaos and behind what we think is chaos is a strange order. The only anchor…the only proper order… is God first. It is here we learn that God is bigger than any of our problems. It is here we learn that God can turn our trials into triumphs. He can help us to discover what we have lost. He can turn our selfishness into service…our darkness into light. Billy Graham put it this way, “The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.” Helping others brings order and peace. Here priorities come into focus and so too order.
Pray for hearts and minds that seek God’s will. Pray we have the courage to keep worshipping and working in ways that help us to stay focused on seeking solutions that witness to the Kingdom. Pray we seek what we love and love what we should seek. Pray we persist in the faith to resist, renounce and reject all rival reasons to rejoice. Pray that all the way, every day our Savior leads us. Pray we seek that which we truly desire. Pray that we realize that if we want to seek the Kingdom we must first seek the King.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 