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Sunday, July 31, 2016

seek first

Opening Prayer: O my God, teach me to seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, or find you unless you show yourself to me.  Let me seek you in my desire, and desire you in my seeking.  Let me find you by loving you, let me love you when I find you. ~St. Anselm of Canterbury

Scripture: Matthew 6:33

Journal: What (or who) are you seeking first these days?  What effect is that having on your life and soul?

Reflection: There is a designed order for all things, particularly our affections.  Simply put, the things that have captured our hearts are the things that we will always seek first.  Therefore, it is of the utmost importance in the life of faith that we regularly examine exactly what those affections are.  The best way to do that is to ask ourselves what is getting the majority of our time and energy.  That will tell us what is really going on in our hearts, and help us to recognize and determine if those things that occupy first place in our lives and hearts are really worthy of that position.
     That’s what a significant amount of Matthew 6 is all about, making sure we are pursuing affections that are worthy of that pursuit.  The created order for those affections involves putting God first.  If we can get that one down, then the others will fall into place.  But if we get our affections out of order there will be chaos.  For anything that we are counting on to satisfy the deepest longings of our souls, other than God himself, simply cannot accomplish what we seek.  That’s why Jesus says to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all of the other things will be added unto you.  It’s really not as complicated as we make it.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Jesus, who has taught us that not all those who say Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only such as do the will of you Father, whose lives correspond with their belief, grant us a truly Christian spirit, a Christina heart, and guide us in the paths of a Christian life.  Grant that I may become detached from all things and in all things seek you alone.  Grant that I may direct all my knowledge, my whole capacity, all my happiness, and all my exertions, to please you, to love you, and to obtain your love for time and eternity.  Amen. (The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis)

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