But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
“Tenth, shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God. It is so easy to lose focus in the pursuit of legitimate, even good things. Job, position, status, family, friends, security—these and many more can all too quickly become the center of attention.
George Fox warns, “…there is the danger and the temptation to you, of drawing your minds into your business, and clogging them with it; so that ye can hardly do anything to the service of God…and your minds will go into the things, and not over the things…And then, if the Lord God cross you, and stop you by sea and land, and take [your] goods and customs from you, that your minds should not be cumbered, then that mind that is cumbered, will fret, being out of the power of God.”
May God give you—and me—the courage, the wisdom, the strength always to hold the kingdom of God as the number-one priority of our lives. To do so is to live in simplicity.*
Richard Foster (b. 1942) in Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 95.
Today marks the last post from Foster’s list of ten practical steps for people to take to choose a lifestyle of simplicity. Shunning distractions means to abandon average or good for best.
How important is God’s kingdom to you? Are you willing to sacrifice everything else for it? Or do your treat it like icing on the cake of the way you want to live your life?
It matters not to me how you answer the question. What matters is whether or not you will be prepared to give an answer to Jesus when you meet Him face to face.
He cares not what we believe. Even the demons believe. He cares what we do related to what we believe. Avoid distractions and maintain your devotion. You’ve got this. God’s’ got you.
“May God give you—and me—the courage, the wisdom, the strength always to hold the kingdom of God as the number-one priority of our lives. To do so is to live in simplicity.*