Making the Rest the Best
Introduction: There is an old saying, "You are never too old to learn." Here is one lesson that that I want to remind you of: (Psalms 90:12) So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. (NKJV)
In other words: "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."
"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." ~ Carl Sandburg
When you spend money there are two ways you can spend it. You can waste it, or you can spend it wisely. The same thing is true with life.
Whether you are young or old, healthy and wealthy, or puny and poor, you can make the rest of your life the best of your life.
If you could ask the Lord Jesus Christ how to make the rest of your life the best of your life, what do you think He would say? I don't think we have to wonder, I think I know.
(Matthew 6:33) "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (NKJV)
I think you can summarize what Jesus said here in three words: "first things first." Now I know that sounds simple, but I want to tell you that if you, beginning today, would consciously, continuously, constantly, and consistently put first things first, it will absolutely transform your life. The formula for how to do just that is found in this tremendous statement from the lips of our Lord.
I. SET PROPER PRIORITIES
1. "Seek first the Kingdom of God…"Now everything rises and falls right here. If your priorities are not in order, your life will not be in order. If your priorities are not right, your life will be in disarray. You don't have to pray about what your number one priority in life ought to be. You don't have to think about it. You don't have to discuss it. You don't have to look for it. You just have to do it. Jesus has already told us what our first priority ought to be, "seek first the kingdom of God."
The word—seek—means to "actively pursue" or "to go after." It's in the present tense. It means continuously. Every day of your life you ought to seek first the kingdom of God.
2. Seek the King of the Kingdom—Now in order to seek the kingdom, you must first seek the King. You cannot have a kingdom without a king. The first priority of your life ought to be to seek the King of the kingdom.
Did you know that the Christian life is more than just accepting the Lord but it is also continually seeking the Lord? The Lord is not just someone you passively accept. He is someone you actively seek. I can tell you something about your relationship with God at this very moment—if you want more of God you will consistently and actively be pursuing Him with all your heart. You will be doing those things that promote your relationship with God.
3. Seek to be one of God's Intimates: God does not have any favorites, but He does have intimates.
(James 4:8a) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (NKJV)
(Jeremiah 29:13) And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (NKJV)
4. But it is not enough to seek the Lord. You must seek Him first.
Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God." First things first mean putting God first. The Bible says in Heb. 11:6, "Without faith it is impossible to please him."
An added dimension of faith is putting God first. Jesus does not want some place in your life. Jesus does not even want prominence in your life. Jesus wants preeminence in your life.
My desire is to give our Lord the first part of each day; the first day of each week; the first part of each pay check; First things First!!
The Lord Jesus Christ is not interested in being the first runner-up in your beauty contest. He is not interested in being vice-president in your corporation. He is not interested in being second in command in your army. He wants to be the King on the throne of your heart, not a co-partner in a duplex.
5. But not only are we to seek the King, we ought to seek the kingdom. The kingdom of God ought to be the fixation of your life. The word kingdom there literally means rule or reign. A kingdom is a place where a king rules. To seek the kingdom of God is to seek the rule and the reign of God over your entire life.
II. This Seeking Also Includes……….
A. The King's Glory: This means God is not segregated in your life to a particular day or to a particular portion of the day but throughout your day you are following this Biblical principle: (1 Corinthians 10:31) Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (NKJV)
B. The King's Guidance:
A loyal subject always wants to do whatever the king would have him to do. There is no higher calling in life than to find out what your King wants done and then to do it. Every morning of your life a good question to ask is what Paul asked Him on the Damascus road, "Lord, what would you have me to do?"
C. The King's Government: A loyal subject desires to be controlled by the king, to be governed by the king, to be ruled by the king. Someone might say, "Well that sounds like slavery." May I tell you, that the greatest liberty in the world is found in being controlled by the right master.
Has it ever occurred to you that if your will was that God's will would always be done in your life, then your will would always be done.
I heard about a woman who was deathly sick. A neighbor came to visit her and he asked her whether she wanted to live or to die. She said, "I just want whatever pleases God."
The neighbor said, "Well, what if God were to refer the matter to you, which would you choose?"
She said, "If God were to refer the matter to me, I would just refer the matter back to Him." That lady had her priorities in the right order.
You can believe this or not, but it would be better to die in the will of God than to live outside of the will of God.
III. SEEK PERSONAL PURITY
1. Not only are we to seek His kingdom, we are to seek "His righteousness."
That is, not only are we to be seeking God's control over us, but we are also to be seeking God's character within us.
The kingdom of God is not only to be inwardly experienced. It is to be outwardly expressed.
2. If God is ruling over you, then His righteousness will be within you. A man's character is simply the outward expression of whatever is controlling him inwardly. Faith is always seen by its fruit. Character is always seen by its conduct. As we seek the kingdom of God, people ought to be able to see the kingdom in us.
We are never going to make a difference in our families and in our world until they sees a difference in us. Nietzsche, the German philosopher, was the philosophical founder of the Nazi Movement in Germany. He was the first man in history to come to the conclusion that "God is dead." He came to that conclusion by looking at Christianity. Do you know what he said about Christians? He said, "If you want me to believe in your Redeemer, you are going to have to look a little more redeemed."
The real mark of a Christian is that he makes it easier for others to believe in God.
What Does It Mean To Seek The Righteousness Of God?
A. We Must Desire It
- We do what we really want to do or we are in the process of figuring out a way to do what we really want to do; and we are what we really want to be or again we are in the process of becoming what we really want to be. Jesus said in Matt. 5:6, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."
You ought to desire to be right, to do right, to live right, just as much as a hungry man desires food, and a thirsty man desires water.
B. We Must Derive It
- We are to seek "His righteousness." God desires that His righteousness is lived out in our life. We know that we can never be good enough on our own. Paul, after he was saved, made this one of the goals of his life. He said in (Philippians 3:9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; (NKJV)
Let me remind you of this important truth: Righteousness must be imputed before it can be imparted. Let me make this concept simpler. Before you can live in righteousness, God must grant you righteousness. God must give it. That is one of the results of why Jesus came and Jesus died, that we might have the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:21) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NKJV)
C. We Must Depict It
- We ought to live like kingdom subjects. Will Rogers said, "We ought to live in such a way that we would not be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip."
God has made you holy and in right standing with Him—Our part to live in holiness and righteousness.
IV. SEE PROMISED PROSPERITY
Now the Lord says that if you will seek His kingdom and His righteousness, "all these things shall be added unto you." Now what "things" was the Lord referring to? He was talking about all the things that people worry about.
1. In v.19 we are told that people worry about finances.
(Matthew 6:19) "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; (NKJV)
2. In v.25 we are told that people worry about food.
(Matthew 6:25a) "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; (NKJV)
3. In v.27 we are told that people worry about their lifespan.
(Matthew 6:27) "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (NKJV)
4. In v.28 we are told that people worry about fashion. (Matthew 6:28) "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; (NKJV)
5. Now all of these are things that we need. That's why the Lord said in v.32, (Matthew 6:32) "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (NKJV)
The Lord has promised that if you will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, you will have all the things you need. Now I did not say you would have everything that you want.
Four Truths to Remember……….
A. First of all, you don't need everything you want. I wish I had all the money back that I had spent in my life on things that I wanted that I didn't really need.
B. The second lesson is, you don't want everything you need. I never wanted one whipping that I ever got, but I needed every one of them (but one anyway).
C. The third lesson is, God doesn't give us everything we want. I, for one, am so glad that He doesn't. You know, one of the greatest blessings of God is found in those things that He doesn't give us. Listen to this confession of an unknown confederate soldier:
I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked God for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for - But everything I had hoped for....
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered
I am among all men most richly blessed.
D. The last lesson is, God always desires to give us what we need.
I heard about two stores that were across the street from each other, highly competitive, always trying to get ahead. The manager of one store came out one day and nailed a great big sign over the front of his store that said, "If you want it, we have it." Well the manager from the other store walked out and saw that sign, thought about it for a few moments, went back into his store, and awhile later came out with a sign he nailed up on his store that said, "If we don't have it, you don't need it."
Our Lord Jesus is teaching us this truth—It is our responsibility to serve God and it is His responsibility to supply us with what we need.
I read about a missionary who was getting ready to embark and go away to a foreign country. As he was getting on the ship, just going up the gangway, a friend of his, who was a very wealthy person, came to him and slipped an envelope into his hand that was sealed.
His friend said, "You take this envelope, and if at any time while you are overseas you come to the place where you have exhausted every other possibility, and you don't where else to turn, and you have a need that you cannot meet anywhere else, open the envelope."
Well, the missionary took the envelope, thanked him, put it in his pocket, boarded the ship and he stayed on that mission field for twenty years. At the end of twenty years he came back home, walked down the gangplank, was met by that same wealthy friend, and he returned the envelope back to the man, still sealed, still unopened, and he said, "Never did I come to a place where I did not know where to turn, nor what to do."
Conclusion:
Do You Want To Make The Rest Of Your Life The Best Of Your Life?
Seek the King, His Kingdom & His Righteousness. Allow Jesus Christ to be your Lord. Put Him first. Live every moment for Him, and He will take care of the rest.
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