| What should I search for? |
| It is written in 1 John 4:8, “Whoever does not
love does not know God, for God is love. And God showed his love for
us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life
through him.” |
| Even after I came to know that God is love through
Christ’s actions, my prayers were still for money, power, acceptance
and worldly pleasures. Then Jesus led me to Mathew 6:24, “No
one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other;
he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both
God and money.” The message was clear. I had to make a choice.
|
| Jesus continued in Mathew 6:26, “Look at the
birds: they do not sow seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns;
yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth
much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying
about it?” |
| Jesus showed me that God never wanted me to waste my
life worrying about my daily needs. He was asking me, “Are not
human beings worth much more than birds?” He wanted me to trust
that the same God who feeds birds would feed me, too. Didn’t
that mean that He would love me much more than the birds? This was
a great revelation for me. |
| In Mathew 6:28 Jesus continued, “And why worry
about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or
make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon
with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers.”
Jesus was making it clear that even the wise King Solomon did not
have clothes as beautiful as one of these wild flowers. And Solomon
was considered to be a stylish king in his time! |
| Jesus continued, “It is God who clothes the wild
grass–grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burnt up in
the oven. Won’t he be all the more sure to clothe you? How little
faith you have!” Jesus was asking me to believe in the Father’s
great love. |
| Jesus continued in Mathew 6:31 “So do not start
worrying: where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?”
So I had trust that these basic things of life were a given. It also
meant that I should not fast and pray for these things. As further
reassurance, Jesus said, “Your Father in heaven knows that you
need all these things.” (Mathew 6:32) |
| He made it clear in Mathew 6:32 “These are the
things the pagans are always concerned about.” The verse came
as another shock—that if I pray, fast and dream about these
things, then I am a pagan. And I thought I was a believer. |
| Jesus was making it clear that my prayers and fasting
were not acceptable to the Father and if I died on that day, I would
not go to God. But if these things were assured, what was I living
and working for? |
| Through Mathew 6:33 Jesus answered my questions. The
verse was straight and simple, and answered why I had to live, work,
and fast and pray. It is written “Instead, be concerned above
everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires
of you.” |
| So if I was a believer, God wanted me to live and work
only for the Kingdom of God and to know what God wants from me. Jesus
made it clear that my prayer and fasting should be targeted only towards
this. |
| If I began my search for the Kingdom of God and for
the Father’s plan for me, Christ promised that, “God will
provide me with all these other things.”(Mathew 6:33) |
| From my childhood I believed that my responsibility
was to make money and other material things. Jesus showed me that
if I worked for material things, I was living for the Devil. From
the time of this revelation, I stopped praying for material things
and for my problems. |
| I used to believe that God is love but he punishes.
I listened to the Gospel many times, but was not bothered about the
essence of these words. But when I started to see God’s love
through Jesus, I stopped praying for money, power, acceptance and
material gifts. |
