Are you behind the Curve on the Kingdom of God? [2011]

Are you behind the Curve 
on the Kingdom of God?

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(Luk 12:15)  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

What are your preoccupations today?

Coming from the recent General Election, the pre-occupation of the general public seems to center around the issues of the challenges to living a comfortable life in cosmopolitan city of Singapore. Issues concerned centered on the cost of living, spiraling cost of a HDB flat and the challenges in earning a living and so on. Ironically, in an article in the Business Times, it was mentioned that from a recent survey, Singaporeans are generally behind the curve in understanding the changes to the CPF policies which has a greater bearing to their future livelihood during retirement. So it may seem that generally, people are more concerned with near term matters rather long term matters though the latter may be important.

Our Lord Jesus echoes this point in his rebuke against covetousness as found in Luke 12. He mentioned that the world is preoccupied with securing a livelihood and laying treasures in this life in (Luk 12:30)  “For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things”. This is understandable as this world is what they have without the knowledge of the living God (Psalms 17:14). On the contrary, our Lord Jesus urges us not to have a doubtful mind with regards to the meeting of such needs as this provision flows from our heavenly Father as our heavenly Father knows that we need them and he labours to explain why  this is so by alluding to how God take cares of his creation that perishes and He would certainly take care of his people. Earlier in the same passage, the Lord Jesus set forth an important truth, namely, “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesseth”. What does this mean? I believe it means more then the “safety of ones life is not dependent on the abundance that one possesses” but rather that “our happiness and comfort do not depend upon our having a great deal of the wealth of this world.” This is underpinned by the parable of the  Rich man who is financially secured but who Jesus declared that he is not rich toward God.

So what ought to be our preoccupation? It is not a hyperbole that Jesus urges us to sell what is superfluous to us in Luke 12:33 when Jesus urges us instead to  “seek ye the Kingdom of God” in Luke 12:31. So while we should give attention to legitimate things of this life our preoccupation should be the Kingdom of God.

So what does seeking God’s kingdom mean? I believe the Lord’s prayer (Matt 6:9-13) has a lot teach us in this regards, namely, that (1) we should honor God’s name in whatever we do (2) that we should work towards God has revealed to us in the Scriptures, that (3) we should works towards the manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth, that (4) we should be satisfied with the barest provision for our daily living so that we have minimum encumbrances in serving God, that (5) we should seeks God’s forgiveness daily in our secret prayers and be willing to forgive those who sin against us and that we should (6) implore God daily to provide us a way out of temptation and attempt to do so diligently in our daily living so that we would not sin and dishonour Him.

All in all, we should not be behind the curve in things that are important, and specifically so on seeking the Kingdom of God. Lets be reminded this Lord’s day and contemplate and set our direction aright on this matter by first seeking him in secret prayers (Matt 6:6).