SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD
In the beautiful Eden home was every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, also the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Gen. 2:7-9. God told Adam that he might eat freely of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil he should not eat. For in the day that he ate thereof he should surely die. Verse 16, 17. But Satan said, “Ye shall not surely die.” Whom did Eve believe?—Satan. She partook of the fruit, and we daily witness the sad results of her transgression. The Lord says: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things [the necessaries of life] shall be added unto you.” Satan says, “You can not be a Christian. You can not make a living.” If you are a Christian, he says, “You have no time to read and study the Bible nor to pray. You must work from morning till night. You have scarcely time to eat your meals; but you must take time for the temporal food, or you can not live.” But God says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4. How can we live by every word of God if we do not study to know that word? Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life.” John 5:39. Satan says, “You have been baptized, and belong to the church, and God knows your circumstances. He knows that you have a family to support; you must live, and you need every moment and every cent.” The same old story of Eve and the serpent! Whom shall we believe, God or Satan? We read that Satan is the father of lies, and there is no truth in him. John 8:44. But “God is not a man, that He should lie.” Num. 23:19; James 1:17. Did Jesus live by every word of God?—Yes; and He is our example; He is the only perfect pattern. He had not where to lay His head—born in a manger. “And every man went unto his own house.” “Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.” John 7:53; 8:1. Why did Jesus go to the mount of Olives?—He had no “house” to which to go. But God found Him a resting-place. So he finds a resting-place for each of His children, and supplies all their needs. Jesus often spent all night in prayer. If He needed to seek God often, that He might be able to overcome the enemy, how dare we even to think of being able to stand without seeking God. Oh, that none of us may be deceived by the “father of lies”! but let us seek “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” Are we laboring in the home, on the farm, in the office or shop, or elsewhere, let us make God first. “But you must be at work at a certain227time, or you will lose your position, or not accomplish much, and you work so hard you need to rest until nearly the last moment.” This is Satan’s suggestion again. Let us see what our great Example did. In Mark 1:35 we read: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Who will not say that Christ was busy and labored hard? Yet He had not the home comforts that we have, be they ever so poor. He sought “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” Are we gospel workers, such as ministers, Bible workers, canvassers, etc., let us seek “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,” and make the salvation of souls our object, trusting the Lord to take care of us. “And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them.” John 8:2. Jesus began early in the morning to give the message and minister unto the people. The salvation of those for whom He came, for whom He suffered, and for whom He was to die, was His object. It should be ours. We should seek to save that which is lost. We say the Lord is soon coming again. May God help us to say it in our daily lives, and not only with our lips; and then the work will soon be done, the Saviour will come, and we shall be delivered from all trials and tribulations, and shall rejoice in the Lord forever. “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 8:17. Then let us study the Word, that our faith may be increased; and let us take Him at His word, and step out upon His promises, though the way may seem ever so dark. Now is the time to act. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1); “but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Rom. 8:24. “The just shall live by faith.” Gal. 3:11. Then, brethren, let us “be strong and of a good courage,” and seek “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.”