May 2 Kingdom Food

Luke 12:29-31 “And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” 
 
HERE is Jesus’ good counsel to direct your heart and mind to be in peace: seek God first. But what about your daily food and drink? Shouldn’t these be your priority? After all, you need them to live. Does Jesus men that once you are physically sustained, then you can seek God’s kingdom?
    But think about this. Do we not struggle with God because we put our physical needs and desires first? This is why mankind lives in sin’s curse. Go back to Genesis 3. What caused the sin? The first couple disobeyed God’s “food command” for physical pleasure: Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 3:6a “When the woman saw the fruit at the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye”. In response, Adam and Eve lost God’s blessing in Genesis 1:29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”  A curse of toil marked their physical lives: Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust, you are and to dust you will return.” Remember this: desiring food more than God led to death.
    Thankfully, Jesus came to transform our minds to a faithful God-first order., Jesus’ kingdom teachings pointed to the Father’s plan to redeem man’s “me-first” heart and restore his creation blessing. Jesus points your mind to first be set on God’s truths. Remember, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) With such desires, you are confessing to God, “You are the source of life. I trust you for my daily bread. I believe in you for my eternal food and water.”
    Do you doubt this? Then look around the world, near and far. See the massive poverty that causes starvation and deprivation in millions of lives. The root cause of these hardships is the sin of putting physical desires before God’s commands. People neglect God’s command to work. They disregard God’s commands of purity in marriage, submission to one another, honor for children and love for each other. In Jesus’ church, tithing is rare. Sadly, a local, large church reports that 40% of its congregation give nothing to the church. Putting the physical ahead of God’s Word is idolatry. It destroys lives. It is the pathway to worry, stress, fear and loss.
    Heed Jesus’ words. He has spoken the way of life. Seek God first. Your Lord will care for you now and into eternity as you live on the pathway to Heaven’s blessings: Revelation 22:1-4 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 
 
Prayer: Put my eyes, heart and mind first on you, Lord. All I need is you. Amen.