A Mansion and A Motorbike - Part 1 - Seek

Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

This photo was taken on a Christian Mission trip in 2009, while visiting a Vietnamese village just across the Thai-Cambodian border. The team was ministering to the villagers God's word in the form of the story of the "Lost Sheep", in a contemporary way.

At the end of the story, the story was explained in relation to God’s love, how much God loves the people and His desire to find and save his lost people. This man "challenged" the team with a question. If you ever wonder if the Gospel is heard in a mission trip, this is an example that shows that the good news is heard.

This is the question the man asked:

"If God loves me, why doesn’t he give me a mansion and a motor-bike?"

I was not satisfied with the Thai pastor's reply then, that Jesus right now is building him a mansion in heaven (John 14:1-3). While the answer is true, it would also mean, when I heard it, that this poor man will have to go to heaven to receive his reward. But Christianity to me has to also be about the present ....in the now time.

It was some time later that the Holy Spirit spoke on this.

"Isn’t this question, very much what many of you also ask of God?"

I thought about it for awhile and while reflecting on my own prayer life I found that to be quite true. The theme for many of our prays to God goes something like this ……If God so loves me, give me that promotion, let me win the lottery, go to that school or university, afford that holiday, get me through this day, etc. We basically worry about our everyday life, about how our needs or wants can be met.

To this end, the Holy Spirit directed me to Matthew 6:25-34 but specifically, v33 and v25 in that order.

v33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

v25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

The words spoke to me that as we put our priorities right and set our perspective of life to one of seeking God, it inevitabley leads us to His Kingdom and His righteneousness and in so doing, all that we need, want and desire, will come with it natuarally, without worrying about it.

2 Peter 1:2(NLT)
2 May God bless you with his special favor [grace] and wonderful peace as you come to know Jesus, our God and Jesus our Lord, better and better.

Learning to lean on Him, trusting Him.