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God has promises
that He makes to us when we meet His conditions. Perhaps the clearest of
theses is found in Matthew 6:33. Jesus had been telling His disciples not to
worry about what they would eat or wear. God feeds the birds and He clothes
the flowers. His disciples are more important to Him than the birds and
flowers. So He can provide for His disciples also. In this passage, Jesus
gives them a condition. "But seek ye first God’s kingdom and His
righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you."
How do we show
God that His kingdom and righteousness are first in our lives? When I wanted
to make sure God knew that His kingdom and righteousness were first in my
life I made four promises to Him:
- That I
would live the Christian life taught in the New Testament (1 Peter 2:21).
- That I
would attend every assembly of Christ’s church (Hebrews 10:25).
- That I
would give at least 10% of my gross income to the Lord’s work (2
Corinthians 8:1-5).
- That I
would do all I could to promote God’s kingdom and righteousness on earth.
These promises were sometimes hard to keep, but I lived up to them the best
I could. I prayed about them constantly.
Now my wife
and I are near the end of our lives and we can say what David recorded in
Psalms 37:25. We have not had an abundance, but we have had plenty. We have
made some sacrifices that were hard to make, but we are glad we did. God has
kept His promise to us. We have enough.
Harvey
Childress, servant of Jesus Christ |
