Merry CHRISTmas! Today I want to share this very vital message from our partner Rick Renner!
What You Must Seek
…Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. —
Matthew 6:33
“Merry Christmas!”
Those were the first words we
heard on Christmas Day when we were children. We were awakened when Dad would
turn on the floodlights attached to his Kodak camera, and all three Renner kids
would crawl out of bed in our pajamas, rubbing our eyes in the bright lights
that were glaring down on us as Dad filmed practically every movement of the
Christmas morning for us.
Today we still have those films
that Dad took of all three of us as we scampered from our beds into the living
room to begin the process of opening gifts. Those films are now decades old,
and I am thankful for the thoughtfulness of my father to film those precious
memories, which otherwise would have been completely lost. Now that they’ve
been transferred to a digital format, we can enjoy them for years to come. Dad
is in Heaven, but these are his treasures that he left for the rest of us to
watch and enjoy.
Every so often, we watch those
films and remember our childhood Christmases and the gifts that Daddy and
Mother gave us. The greatest gift my parents ever gave me on Christmas was a
study Bible — a very nice, leather-lined study Bible. I was so proud of
it! They hit it right on the target when they gave me that Bible, as my heart
was aflame to know more about God’s Word at that time in my life. I
still have that Bible today. Dad wrote his favorite Bible verse right in the
front of the inside cover. There, in Dad’s handwriting, it says, “…Seek ye
first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).
Dad would quote this verse to us
kids all the time. He wrote it in birthday cards, in letters that he
occasionally wrote to us when we were at the university — and, of course, in
the front covers of every Bible he ever gave to each of us. He really
believed this verse, and he wanted to embed it in our souls.
Dad quoted Matthew 6:33 so often,
and wrote it to us so many times, that one day I decided to pick up my Greek
New Testament and look at the word “seek” to see what it means. It is the
present imperative active form of the Greek word zeteo, and it
depicts a constant attitude to actively and constantly seek for a thing.
Furthermore, zeteo is
a command. Jesus was literally commanding us to actively and constantly be
seeking after the Kingdom of God. Jesus promised that if we did, everything
else we needed in life would be supplied to us. No wonder Dad wanted to get
that verse into our hearts! He knew that if we got this right, everything else
would be okay in our lives.
So I want to ask you: Are you
obeying Jesus’ command to habitually, constantly seek the Kingdom of God? Are
you on-again, off-again in your spiritual passion, or would
Jesus say you are consistent in your seeking of Him and His Kingdom? All those
other things you need to be supplied for life will come if you’ll
place Jesus first and never stop seeking the purposes of His Kingdom. Jesus
truly is the Gift that keeps on giving!
AMEN! JESUS truly IS the REASON that we are celebrating this day! I hope that YOU have received JESUS as Lord and Saviour, and that YOU have committed your life to knowing HIM more every day! There IS no other way to grow up in the things of God! SEEK HIM FIRST, and you will NEVER find yourself without help in any time of need! AMEN! Here is Hillsong Kids with "Ask, Seek, Knock":
Shalom in Him!
