Pastor’s Column 6/22/2025

PASTOR’S COLUMN

31 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or What shall we wear?” 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His  righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”    Matthew 6:31-34, NIV                                                        

“First Things First”

There is priority to life that only can be truly learned and appreciated through a relationship with God. Who knows best about the right direction of our lives than the One who gave us live in the beginning . We humans are interesting creations of God. We have been given independence to think, act, and create. Yet we are dependent on God, because our human existence makes us limited in many ways. In what is likely the oldest of the Psalms, Moses says we are “frail” and our human destiny is to “return to dust.” If we  fail to see life beyond the poignant words of Moses, we will miss Paul’s rejoinder, “If only in this life  we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:19, NIV). The “we” Paul addresses are all who believe, receive, and live in Jesus Christ as Lord. Whatever our ambitions are, nothing is more important than putting first the teachings of the Kingdom of God, living in its holy domicile – and having a right relationship with the Lord. This is the message Jesus gave to His followers and onlookers, who worried desperately about their material needs. Jesus never repudiated the people for having a need for food, clothing, and the security of life, but He warned and encouraged them to set their priorities in the right place. Jesus is essentially saying, although the material resources are necessary for living; don’t put thisneed ahead of the need to have and maintain a right relationship with God. Jesus said, if we do this, we “will” have the resources we  need to sustain our lives. A strong Greek word, zeteo, means to “pursue vigorously!” God is first!