Seek the giver, not the gift

"When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'Your face LORD, I will seek.'
                                                                                                        Psalm 27:8.  NKJV

On occasions, we can treat God as if He is some kind of Glorified Santa Claus, by continuously asking, 'Lord, give me this,' and 'I need this Lord, please let me have it.' But God is much more than this. Yes, He gives to His children but only what He believes we need. Praying to win the Lottery, no matter how nice that may seem, is not one of those needs,. This falls into the category of 'wants.' 'Yes, but I could do so much with that amount of money; people would be so blessed as I gave to them.' No amount of justification will change God's mind with this one.

God expects us to work whenever that is possible. The Apostle Paul makes this very clear in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10. Verse 10 reads, 'If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.' You can't get it any plainer than that, can you? We should all be willing to support ourselves and our families. It's true, that through certain circumstances beyond their control, some people can't work - for a time. However, many can and should.

The Apostle Paul and many other people in ministry throughout the age, have worked to support themselves and their ministries. It is always helpful when a minister is supported financially by a church or body, but many aren't and they have to take jobs in order to manage.

As we read in yesterday's reading, God wants us to seek Him first and His righteousness. He then promises to take care of us. Seeking Him is seeking the giver, not the gift. The gifts come as we become close to Jesus - the giver. As we become sold out to Him, He commits Himself to taking care of every issue. I once heard one famous minister say to God, when the church had a very large bill, 'Lord, this is Your department - Your bill, not mine. I'm going home to get some rest and see my family. I know You'll take care of it. And God did. It may sound rather ostentatious for the minister to talk this way to God. But, this was the relationship that he had with God. Both him and his church, were faithful in their work; they trusted God for everything and their faith was rewarded. This is the way God wants us to be. Totally reliant on Him.

As we seek the giver and not the gift, placing Jesus in the driving seat, we will be blessed, time and time again. Try it!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com