Quaerite Regnum Eius | Seek His Kingdom

Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well - Luke 12: 31

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Reflecting on the teachings of Jesus as recorded in Luke 12:22-31:

22 He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith! 29 And do not keep seeking what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that seek all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

In this passage, Jesus is instructing us not to worry unnecessarily about our temporal lives, but instead to focus on God's kingdom as the top priority in life. This is a hard teaching that goes against my fallen human tendencies to worry about things that have yet to happen. Instead of trusting a good Father who knows all my needs and will supply them according to the richness of His heart. 

As Corrie Ten Boom had famously said in this quote: "Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength - carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength."

I will close my sharing with this beautiful worship song "Seek Ye First". May this be a prayer song for us to trust in God's providence and good plans in our lives, and truly seek first the kingdom of God.

See Ye First - by Maranatha! Music

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

And His righteousness

And all these things shall be added unto you

Hallelu, Hallelujah

Ask and it shall be given unto you

Seek and ye shall find

Knock and it shall be opened unto you

Hallelu, Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

When two or three are gathered in My Name

(Hallelujah) There am I in their midst

(Hallelujah) And, whatsoever ye ask I will do

(Hallelujah) Hallelu, Hallelujah

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/EsBpM9IcBts?si=ApmxLOOfa2ii63t1vvv

Songwriters: Karen Lafferty

Copyright: Seek Ye First © Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publ., Cccm Music

Reflection on Luke 12:22-31 by Chris Tan

Avaritia | Greed

And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." – Lk 12:15

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Dear friends in Christ Jesus, we all know that when we live our lives we always are in need of something. We try one or the other way to take care of our needs. This is something normal in our day to day life. Jesus is making us aware that our needs should not be turned into greed. 

When Jesus says be aware of all kinds of greed he does not only mean about wealth or money but all kinds of greed for example greed of food, power etc. Nothing in itself is bad. Sometimes it is our attitude towards things that matter. It is good to have wealth and to be rich. God blesses our lives with richness in all aspects like family, friends, health, money, spirituality etc. We need to be grateful to God and thank him constantly for all his blessings and care. We can also help Jesus in building up his kingdom by sharing our resources and wealth.

We read in Matthew 6:21 – "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." We need to ask ourselves these questions : what are we running up to? Are we running towards only earning money and storing up? Are we looking for names and fame? Am I worried only about me and my life? Am I just looking up to my earthly life? Jesus is happy to bless us abundantly with whatever we need and in fact he knows better what we need than we know ourselves. Jesus wants us to trust in him and not to place our confidence in things that we have or in ourselves. The attitude of relax, eat, drink and be merry destroys our soul.  

Jesus is making us aware today that the earthly treasures that we store up are not rich for him. He is not so pleased with them and our lives do not only consist of them. He wants us to store up treasures in heaven which no one can steal.

Reflection on Luke 12: 13-21 by Fr. George Joseph SVD

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