What are you chasing? Love?

Matthew 6:33

'But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.'

WAKE UP!

God wants all our eyes to be open. For us to be aware of our iniquity and selfish desires.
He wants us to refocus. Turn our eyes away from our idols, whatever they may be, back to Him. I was reminded recently that the reason why I was stuck in sin was because I was chasing the wrong things. I had put my desire to experience humanly love above my desire to get to know our Almighty God.

I'm certain many of us have the tendency to chase after worldly things - girls, wealth, status, fame, qualifications or achievements - as the entire world pushes us in this direction and not doing so feels like we're being left behind while everyone else is in pursuit of 'greatness'.

What no one ever tells you is that chasing even just one of these things leads to our chase of God's righteousness and His kingdom being put on hold or simply not good enough to offset the devil's schemes that turn us away from God.

I urge all of you, brothers and sisters, to refocus our eyes on the one that's truly important. To stand firm in our pursuit of the glorious King who deserves all the praise. Paul makes a rather bold claim:

Romans 8:28
'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.'

Its validity is pronounced throughout the entire bible. We see God work all things in favor of the Israelites for the times they love Him and turn from their sinful ways back to Him. God placed Joseph to be second only to the King of Egypt as Joseph remained faithful and loved God through his prison time. David the little shepherd boy won against a literal giant, became the King of Israel despite the great number of adversaries and was promised that his lineage will stay on the throne as long as they followed God's commands.

It wasn't their drive or passion to defeat their enemies or the ambition to be second-in-command of Egypt or King of Israel that led all these men and women to reach such positions and attain wealth, peace and fortune. It was simply their love of God and their focus in life- to glorify and follow God. Admittedly, all of them had their fair share of shortcomings and were strayed away from their chase of God at certain times. But one can't deny that they did love God deeply for most of their lives and in return, God gave them possibly everything their hearts desired and much, much more.

Matthew 6:26-32
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

When we chase after the things of the world instead of God, we are saying, "God won't provide for me the same satisfaction as those things. God won't be enough to fulfil my needs, ambition and goals."

1 Cor 2:7-10
But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"--these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

The more we learn about God, the more the Spirit of Truth will reveal just how boundless is His unconditional and never-failing love for us. We don't need to chase after worldly possessions or follow worldly patterns (Romans 12:2), loving God is all we need. He provides for all our needs, and knows what are the best gifts for us. It's not that God doesn't want you to achieve greatness, in fact our little perception of greatness is usually just a fraction of the glory God has in store for us if we follow His ways.

God's saying, 'Have a little faith in me, your Father God. I'll make sure you are glorified, whether it be in this life or in heaven, if you trust in me and love me I'll make it happen. For what kind of father doesn't want what's best for their child? ' (inspired by Matthew 7:11)

Stop chasing your own desires. Start chasing God. He'll ensure the rest is in order.