When I checked my e-mail this morning; I found that I had received an email from a friend, entitled 'Family'. I'm sure that most or many, at least, of my readers have received this e-mail at some point in their e-mail experience: here it is below:
I ran into a stranger as he passed by, 'Oh excuse me please' was my reply. He said, 'Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you.' We were very polite, this stranger and I. We went on our way and we said goodbye. But at home a different story is told, How we treat our loved ones, young and old. Later that day, cooking the evening meal, My son stood beside me very still. When I turned, I nearly knocked him down. 'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown. He walked away, his little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken. While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said, 'While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse. Go and look on the kitchen floor, You'll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue. He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.' By this time, I felt very small, And now my tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt by his bed ; 'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said. 'Are these the flowers you picked for me?' He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree. I picked 'em because they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.' I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today; I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.' He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway.' I said, 'Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.' FAMILY Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think? So what is behind the story? Do you know what the word FAMILY means? FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU Pass this on to family and Friends You will receive a miracle tomorrow. God will bless you |
Sad to say; all this busyness often makes for rather difficult, if not strained, family relations!
Jesus said, in a passage that we often quote to each other, 'Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.' I dare say that we all understand what Jesus was saying there; but do we really act like we believe it? I think that we often fail to realize the full import of what Jesus said. What does it really mean to seek His Kingdom first, or above all? In the immediate context of His words; Jesus was telling us not to worry about what we need to eat, or about what we need to wear, for He is the one who provides all these things for us; but I think that it's even more than that! Everything in this earthly existence that we have need of; He has provided, and does provide, so why are we so 'caught up' in this busyness, in which we worry unnecessarily for the temporal things of this life?
What DOES it mean to seek first His Kingdom? I think that most of my readers will agree with me, that according to what Jesus said in Luke 17:21, God's kingdom is within us, that He rules in and over the hearts of men. What does Jesus command us to do then, in this Kingdom? He told the lawyer, and tells His disciples, in Matthew 22:34-40, that the most important things in God's Law are to love God first of all, but also to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. In John 13; Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment, which really wasn't so new, after all; 'Love one another; as I have loved you.....'. I think that from these passages, that to seek God's Kingdom first means, most importantly, humanly speaking anyway, to love our neighbor, not only as ourselves ( for we often don't love ourselves much ), but as Christ loved us! When Christ encountered the rich young ruler, in Mark 10:17-22; although this young man boasted that he had been faithful to God's Law, He, knowing his heart, told the young man that he lacked one thing; he was not willing to love the brethren: he had missed that one importance principle of God's Law, to love his neighbor as himself!
Having said all this; I am not accusing all those out there who do not have all the time in the world to do everything that they would like, or even ought to do, of not seeking first God's Kingdom; but I think that we all need to begin to take more seriously Jesus' command to seek His Kingdom first, and above all else, and focus more on what He has put right in front of our face, rather than seeking elsewhere for things to do that 'need' to be done; whether or not we think that we are serving Him better in doing so.
As we celebrate His birth this year, in this season; let us purpose, then, in our hearts, to love each other more as we ought, and celebrate that Love all year round, by forsaking our busyness and focusing more on what He has given us.............EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!
In the love of Christ in which we share,
Charles Shank
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