SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 6
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” [Matthew 6:33] Where do you look for happiness, satisfaction, peace? To what do you put your hope for a good life? What ‘things’ do you think will give you your heart’s desire. This ‘thing’, or these ‘things’, is our god. Whatever we look to for happiness is the thing we worship, the thing we consider worthy of our attention and desire.

The idea behind polytheism (having many gods) is that those gods (things) control our access to happiness, peace, security, etc. When the Lord challenges His people to worship only Him (since He alone is God), He is making the point that He is the only source of happiness. If we want it to go well with us in the land (life) that the Lord our God gives us, then we need to look to Him alone, trust His way only, rely on Him.

To love God with our heart, soul and strength is to make Him our ultimate concern, our ultimate desire, our ultimate source, our ultimate guide. At home or on the road, coming or going, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, He is the key to the good life. The refrain of Deuteronomy 6 is that loving, honouring and obeying God is the way to experiencing life to the full in the new land. Jesus makes this same claim in Matthew 6, saying that the key to happiness is not in “all these things” but in putting God, His kingdom, His righteous will, first. Then “all these things” will be given to us as well.

This is an important message for us, but also for our children. In these times of relative health and wealth, we are forgetting the source of these ‘blessings’. We are enjoying the milk and honey but forgetting the God that gives them. We and our children are becoming more attached to “all these things”, running after what we eat, what we drink, what we wear, just like everyone else – as if they will make us happy.

In many ways, we are practical polytheists; we worship many gods. But Jesus makes it plain that in fact when you serve both God and money, you actually are only serving one – you cannot serve both. If we love things, then we do not love God. Whatever our hearts cling to, that is our treasure, our ultimate concern, our god.

Where do you look for happiness, satisfaction, peace? To what do you put your hope for a good life?

PRAYER:
Lord, with You, all things are truly mine. Without You, nothing matters.