Seek first

After having the cheque from the "Safety Starts With Me" competition lying around for a couple of weeks, I finally got down to banking it in today. Headed down to Art Friend afterthat to take a look at stuff. It was pretty late into the afternoon already, I was hungry and also looking for a nice place to prepare for cell this week. At first I went to the Macs just next to Bras Basah Complex, I like the second storey there. Unfortunately it was full, so I made my way to Raffles Place and grabbed a bite at the food court there instead. Starbucks and all were packed, don't people work?? I mean, it is in the middle of the afternoon, what are people doing out of the office lol. In the end I settled down at TCC at Funan. Ordered a drink then fished out my bible, paper and writing materials.

Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."

This the verse we'll be teaching at cell for the secondary ones this week.

Always better to look at the whole passage then just the verse in isolation. The verses leading to 33 can be summed up in saying

Do not be anxious about anything, for we have a God that provides.

From verse 32 we see that He knows our needs. From verses 25-30 we read of how He provides for the birds of the air and lilies of the field and are you not of more value than they? In verse 27 the classic question of and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? The verse from Philippians comes to mind, Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be known to God"

Seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.

As a student, I can't but think of cell and service vs stay home and study when I think of this verse. I guess it's a very real thing, we see it sometimes in our own lives and also in those around us. During the exams visibly less people are around for cell and service. (Surprisingly last week even after all the exams there was still much fewer people around, to that Isaac joked that it's studying before and during, partying after) To say to seek first by coming for cell and service over studying might be very applicable to the sec 1's since they're all students, but that kinda limits and downplays it, I feel. It is probably one example, but to find something more encompassing, it would be

Making/keeping God as our priority.

If we know that God knows our needs and believe that He provides, should our lives suddenly revolve around exams/insert-relevant-alternative? Do we suddenly have more faith in a few hours of studying that our God who provides?

I recall a time years back when I learnt about this verse in cell, then learnt it in greater measure in the months to follow.

Second year of JC and the A level was to be the finale of my 2 years in PJ. Most people probably thought it wasn't a big deal to me and that I was always doing well. But for a pretty long time, it was a very worrying thought. I had been failing chem since I started JC and at that point of time I was still in the midst of trainings and competitions. I remember the long, late night journeys home and wondering if I would make it to university, even if I had 2A's if I failed my third subject I wasn't going anywhere. Plus PJ's chem papers are not the super-hard-not-set-to-let-you-pass kind. I remember feeling so helpless against the mountain of stuff I didn't know and the little time I had to get it right. Math Chem Phy for J1 mid year was EDC, end year was CDB. Long way to go. After A div basketball ended, I spent most of my time after school catching up on chem and starting all the way at the first chapter of year one work. Mid year J2: BOB. Nightmare seriously. More long days and nights in school catching up on chem. Then at cell Lishan taught from Matthew 6:25-34. I guess it really impacted me and the months later were very different. I was still spending long hours in school but the worry was slowing dying. It was then I learnt that

There is a stark difference between concern and worry.

Doing well, getting into uni and all, they now a concern to me, but no longer gripping as worry was. Much more studying later, prelims came. ADB. Failing at prelims should have made me really worried, but this time I wasn't. God gave me a lot of peace to ride through this storm. There was quite some time before the actual A's, but it didn't end up in super hardcore mugging. There were some changes in cell and now we had 2 guitarists, so we met up on wednesday nights to practice. Instead of just service on saturday it was now Timor team meeting->guitar lessons with Vic->service. Effectively my saturday was gone. It seemed that as the A's drew nearer I was actually spending less time studying. But it didn't worry me. In the end, ABB and I didn't even touch a large portion of the essay questions which carried much of the marks. God saw me through...

I think of examples in the Bible I can use to bring out the verse in a stronger way. Surely that must be countless mentions of people trusting God to provide in the face of the impossible.

At first I thought of Jesus feeding the five thousand, but it didn't really suit this. Then I remember Abraham and Isaac, and start flipping to Genesis. Genesis 22, The Sacrifice of Isaac. When Isaac asked where the lamb was, Abraham told him that God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. Abraham had great reason to be worrying, in the chapter before this God had promised Abraham that through Isaac shall your offspring be named. But instead Abraham chose to show faith. God provided a lamb in the end and Isaac lived. Hebrews 11:17-19 also speaks of this event and the faith he showed.

The mountains of Moriah, the place where Abraham showed faith, and God provided and a sacrifice made.
The mountains of Moriah, salvation obtained through faith, where for sacrifice God provided Jesus, the lamb that was slain.

On the same mountains Jesus was sacrificed for our sins. If God has provided for our eternity, what more for the temporary? If we have faith in God that He provides, what we should we be doing instead? Going back to Matthew 6, at the very start of the passage, v25; is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? We have our eyes set on the wrong places, the wrong things. The lyrics ring in my head...

This is my story
This is my song
Praising my Saviour, all the day long.

I guess that if we have the faith that God provides, we stop worrying about things; He becomes our priority, our focus, His glory our life purpose...

I put down my pen and reach for my cup; I'm more or less done writing, just need to refine and organise everything again before cell. A sudden realisation hits and I can't help but smile, the title of that hymn is...

...Blessed Assurance