Bible League: Living His Word 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. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.There is nothing wrong with seeking food, or drink, or clothing. Jesus himself says the heavenly father knows we need them. The trouble comes when we focus our lives around the seeking of food, drink, clothing, and any other creaturely thing. The trouble comes when we get so anxious about having these things that we make them our first priority. When we make the acquisition of things our first priority we run into the Solomon problem. The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes tells us that King Solomon searched high and low for meaning in life by acquiring as much of everything as he could. What did he find? He found that "all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). When the acquisition of creaturely things is set up as the be-all and end-all of life it quickly loses its luster. The mere acquisition of things fails to satisfy the human quest for ultimate meaning and purpose. Over and above the acquisition of things, but not apart from them, is the true meaning and purpose of life---seeking the Kingdom of God. What does it mean to seek the kingdom? It means to enter the kingdom and its righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ and it means to advance and develop the kingdom by serving the King in every area of life---including the acquisition of creaturely things. After all, you would not be much help to the King if you were naked and starving. It is, therefore, a question of priorities. Do you seek these things for their own sake, or do you seek them in service to the King? If it's the first, then these things will never truly satisfy your quest for meaning. If it's the second, then they will not have to satisfy your quest, because you will have already found the true source of meaning and purpose. And there's a bonus for seeking the Kingdom first. You get what you need as part of the package. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingNumbers 32, 33 Numbers 32 -- Reubenites and Gadites Settle in Gilead NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Numbers 33 -- Summary of Israel's Journey NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 10:1-31 Mark 10 -- Divorce; Let the little children; Rich Young Ruler; Jesus Predicts His Death; James and John's Request; Blind Bart NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion For he issued his laws to Jacob;he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, Insight God commanded that the stories of his mighty acts in Israel's history—and his laws—be passed on from parents to children. This shows the purpose and importance of religious education: to help each generation obey God and set its hope on him. It is important to keep children from repeating the same mistakes as their ancestors. Challenge What are you doing to pass on the history of God's work to the next generation? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for thee.If none of God's saints were poor and tried, we should not know half so well the consolations of divine grace. When we find the wanderer who has not where to lay his head, who yet can say, "Still will I trust in the Lord;" when we see the pauper starving on bread and water, who still glories in Jesus; when we see the bereaved widow overwhelmed in affliction, and yet having faith in Christ, oh! what honor it reflects on the gospel. God's grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring--that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as he is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace. There is a lighthouse out at sea: it is a calm night--I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm; the tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit's work: if it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we should not know how firm and secure it was. The master-works of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties, stedfast, unmoveable,-- "Calm mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory." He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many. If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for his failing you, never dream of it--hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end. Daily Light on the Daily Path Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. • "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; • for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight-- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. • For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, • while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 1 Peter 1:4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. 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