Thursday 12 January: Seek Ye First
‘The common people’ (Mark 12:37) gathered in large crowds and listened to Jesus.
A: God’s provision for all of our needs is promised in Matthew 6:25-33. To receive those promises the people must not worry about the things they need (food, drink, clothing) and instead ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness’ then ‘all these things shall be added unto you’.
In Isaiah 26:3 we are asked to keep our minds fixed on God and trust in Him to have the ‘perfect’ peace of God.
If we confess our sins Jesus will forgive our sins and ‘cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ (1 John 1:9)
(2 Chronicles 7:14 is another bilateral contract. God proposes the following ‘ifs’ and ‘thens’:
- If His people return to Him, humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn from their wicked ways THEN,
- God will ‘hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’
We choose life or death when we choose to obey or disobey God respectively. God tells us ‘therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deuteronomy 30:19)