But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
ized Christ is simply reminding us no one and nothing should be considered more important than He is to us,“ Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”( Exodus 20:3-5 KJV) He also has a Divine order in everything,“ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”( Matthew 6:33 KJV) And if we’ re tempted to think He will make an exception for us, we quickly get this reality check,“ For I am the LORD, I change not”( Malachi 3:6 KJV)
How then do we get the understanding we need in order to follow the path He wants us to take? The Bible tells us,“ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”( Proverbs 9:10 KJV) At times, we may need a self-examination on whether we fear God. In general, people don’ t seem to fear God anymore. I marvel at the notion of not fearing the One who gives life and can take it away. When I was growing up,
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
— Matthew 6:33
I remember God being portrayed as an impersonal judge who condemned us for every transgression. Rarely, did I hear about his love for us or forgiveness of our sins.
Yet, when I look back over my life, I know, that I know, it was God and only God, who brought me through the most difficult and impossible situations with grace and compassion. Remembering that He was there for me then, reminds me He will be there as I face each of life’ s challenges ahead. This isn’ t something I can say about anything I can purchase or even a member of my family regardless of how much they love me.
If we as Christians want to be real with Christ, then we must examine whether Christ is in our Christmas celebration? If His presence in our celebration is marginal, the question begs to be asked,“ Does Christ want and expect more from us as believers?” With as much evidence as there is in the scriptures, it has become clear that He does.
With this in mind, what should believers who desire to put Christ first in their Christmas celebration do? Since each person has their own vices and pagan practices, no one size fits all. Everyone’ s shortcomings will differ and so will the answer.
None of us have the power on our own to do that which pleases God,“ Man ' s goings
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