Friday, May 1, 2015

Seek for Wisdom

Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

I got to dwelling on a thought this morning. Find that hard to believe!!! 

God tells us to seek and we will find. As our pastor said a few Sundays ago, if we chase after God, He will let us catch Him. This is what He wants, that we be in relationship with Him, in constant communion with Him, seeking Him in all things.

We are discussing the Book of Ecclesiastes in Sunday school. It's not the most uplifting book but it has an excellent message. It speaks honestly, of course, and about the reality of life. It's not that big a book. It's worth reading, more than once.

King Solomon wrote the book. It's about the vanity of life...or vanities! He asked God for wisdom above all things. God not only gave him wisdom but all the other things one could ask for...all things were added to him. But somewhere those things became things of the world and got the better of him. So as such a wise man as he was, how could this happen? He made a mistake. That mistake was going against what God warned him about. It's too much to go into...he made himself an idol, ignored God, and faced God's judgment. But...God is merciful if we see the error of our ways.

Ecclesiastes shows how he came out of the vanity of life. He shares with the reader the consequences and what to do. That's a wise man!

These are written as the main subject of each page of my Bible in this book:
Wisdom excels folly - everything has its time - a time for every purpose - two are better than one - enjoy what God gives you - the value of wisdom - wisdom strengthens the wise - fear God and enjoy life - time and chance happen to all - wisdom brings success - remember your Creator - wise words are like goods

As Ecclesiastes says often, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. Several Bible passages refer to this wind: It goes toward the south and turns to the north and whirls about continuously. It blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. We do not know what is the way of the wind. (Ecclesiastes 1:6, John 3:8, Ecclesiastes‬ ‭11‬:‭5‬)  The point is, only God knows. He directs the wind. It makes sense that we seek Him and He will, as He says, direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6).

Everything in life, according to Solomon, is vanity. Everything...unless God is the center of it. Another sermon from our pastor asked us to examine the motives of our heart. We may think we do good for a cause but maybe the motive is to point to ourselves, even ourselves to God, as if to say, Look at what good I've done. Everything is to be done in humility, without expecting recognition. The only thing that should matter is if we have done it out of love for our God, not self. And that means we must have this close communion with Him. That always comes first...not works to make God notice the good we've done (No one is righteous, no not one - Romans 3:10). 

The conclusion, therefore, is to seek God first. As Ecclesiastes says: Fear God and keep His commands, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

I pray often, but probably not often enough, for wisdom for the day. With that wisdom to know what God desires will come all those added to me things! I'm not looking for riches or fame or success in the world. My desire is success in my relationship with God. Out of that is a desire that others know the goodness of God too. I want to be assured of heaven as my final home. I want Him to be the focus and center of my every day.  Seek first the kingdom of God...

Isaiah‬ ‭33‬:‭6‬ - Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the LORD is His treasure. 

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