Articles
All These Things Shall Be Added Unto You
All These Things Shall Be Added Unto You
In the middle of talking about people's preoccupation with the material and temporal aspects of life, Jesus made a strange promise: "seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you" (Luke 12:31). He had just told the story of the rich fool who was rich in the things of THIS world but in poverty concerning the things of God. He warns the disciples to not be anxious about life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on." (vs. 22). He repeats this saying: "do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried."
This does not mean that disciples do not work or provide for the needs of themselves and their families (2 Thess. 3:10; 1 Tim. 5:8). The emphasis IS the emphasis. What are we SEEKING in life? The parable of the sower in Luke 8 warns about letting the cares and riches and pleasures of this world choke out the word of God.
Yet, even today people take this promise as an 'investment scheme'. They fool themselves thinking that by practicing certain religious things that they THEN will become rich in such material things. At the heart of such people it still remains that they are seeking the wrong things and now have corrupted the whole concept of serving God. God becomes the 'genie in the bottle' to provide for their worldly ambitions. They are not seeking God, but 'things'. Be not deceived, God is not mocked.
The key phrase here is 'seek first the kingdom of God'. When Matthew recorded this he wrote: "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matt. 6:33). Paul stated that we are to "seek those things above… set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (Col. 3:1-2). How then do we balance our needs verses our life's goals? With much difficulty. We must constantly examine ourselves and be brutally honest about it. We must ask ourselves some very hard questions and be prepared for some difficult answers.
Where DOES my religious thought fit into my life? How am I using what God allows me to have? Am I thankful for what I have or am I always seeking more? How much is 'enough' for me? We WILL stand before God and give an account. Will he say to us "Fool!" ? Hugh DeLong
