First…Not Second!

First…Not Second!

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

If I was to ask who won the 1973 Kentucky Derby, unless you are a big horse racing fan, you most likely do not know.  If I told you that 1973 was the year that the Great Secretariat won, most people would say something like…Oh yeah that’s right!  If I asked who came in 2nd place to Secretariat, most people’s eyes would glaze over in a look of contemptible apathy.  

The truth is, the runner-up horse (named Sham), in all three races, might have been known as one of the greatest horses of all time, if he were born in another year.  While Secretariat holds the speed records for the Fastest times in all three of the triple crown races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, & Belmont), had Secretariat not been there, Sham would have broken all of those same records.  He was a great horse.  But no one knows him…because he was 2nd in the 3 most important races of his lifetime.

Second place…Just isn’t First!  I love these quotes about 2nd place:

“No one remembers who came in second.”

- Walter Hagen

“Coming in second place just means you were the first person to lose.”

- Jeff Hawkins

“There is no such thing as second place. Either you're first or you're nothing.”

- Gabe Paul

In our continuation of the examination of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals a truth that we must hear, understand, and heed!  Jesus is not interested in Second place.  Notice his statement very closely:  Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God!  Jesus demands that we make him our #1 Priority.  He doesn’t want Second place to our family.  He doesn’t want Second place to our Job.  He doesn’t want Second place to our friends.  He Doesn’t want second place to our hobbies.  He will NOT ACCEPT SECOND PLACE!  

Do we need to stress that if Second place is intolerable, then being lower than second place is actually a rejection of Jesus?  There are too many people that claim to be Christians that believe they can put God on a shelf , and bring him out when nothing else is working for thim.  They see him as a ‘lucky rabbit’s foot’ or a ‘Genie in a bottle’.  They desert him until they need him…then they rub their “God bottle” feverishly to ask for another wish. That is not a relationship!  And that is far from making him the #1 priority in our lives!  He doesn’t want to be a second thought.  He doesn’t want to be an afterthought.  He doesn’t want to accept our leftovers.  He will except nothing less than being #1 in our hearts and lives.

To further understand what Jesus wants from us, notice what else we are to seek.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his Righteousness”.  This moves it from being only a heart and mind issue to being an ACTION issue.  We have had past RTS posts about righteousness, so there is no need to rehash those.  However, by it’s nature, seeking, and subsequently finding the righteousness of God, demands that it effect our lifestyles, behaviors, actions, reactions, judgments and every other aspect of our lives!

After emphasizing the importance of making him first in our lives, he promises blessings to those that fulfill this request:  “And all these things shall be added unto you!”  In previous verses starting in verse 25, Jesus discuss how God takes care of his creation.  He takes care of birds, and grass and the flowers.  Then in verse 30, he asks the rhetorical question:  If God takes care of all of those other things, how much more will he take care of you?  It is in this context that he promises that if we put him first, he will take care of us in a similar, loving manner.

Seek Ye FIRST…Not Second, Not third, not only when you need Him.  Jesus does not want to be forgotten in your life like Sham was.  Make him THE priority in your Life and you will be blessed beyond measure!

Reflecting the SON, 

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

NOT a Costume Party

 

Christianity is NOT a Costume Party

Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

One of the favorite holidays of many children is Halloween.  Halloween is special to children (and childish adults) for two reasons:  1) because of the free candy.  I certainly can get on board for that reason.  2) because they get to play make-believe and dress up in a costume like their favorite characters.  When a child puts on a costume, in their minds, they are transformed into that persona.  For instance, when they pretend to be a super hero, they imagine that they can leap tall buildings and run faster than a speeding bullet.  

The fact is, putting on a costume that makes one LOOK like a character does not literally make them that person.  In our text today, Jesus states this same truth as it pertains to our duties as his followers.  There are some, that would attempt to put a on a Christian ‘costume’ to appear to be a follower of Jesus… but it is just pretend.

Jesus uses the scribes and Pharisees as his contemporary example of this.  Jesus has a unique and Deistic ability to know the hearts and minds of people.  He demonstrated this ability several times through out the Gospels.  So Jesus is not making a biased judgment here.  He is not making assumptions.  He is not jumping to conclusions.  Jesus KNOWS these men are pretending to act righteous just as clearly as he can see the clothing that they are wearing.  We can see a clear and detailed assessment of this in Matthew 23.  Here is just a few snippets.

Matthew 23:4-5 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. (5) But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

Matthew 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

Now notice how Jesus concludes this exchange…

Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Jesus asks a rhetorical question in conclusion:  How can you escape the damnation of Hell?  Being rhetorical, the answer is obvious…. They can’t in that state.

With that understood, Jesus informs us, that if Our righteousness does not exceed that of these Pharisees, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  To understand this passage more fully, we must understand what righteousness means.

Deuteronomy 6:25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. 

So righteousness is following the commands, wishes, precepts, and laws of God. It is…Doing right.  In its purest sense, true righteousness is obeying the the Law perfectly.  But here are some additional truths about righteousness.

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 

Based upon these three passages we must understand these three truths.

1.  No one is able to be righteous on their own

2.  We can be Made Righteous by the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross

3.  Once we are made righteous, we must dedicate ourselves to living righteously

It is a well documented fact that they Pharisees and other Religious leaders of Jesus’ time were hungry for power and were much more concerned with holding on to their power than pleasing God.  But if we put anything in front of God as a priority, Jesus makes it clear that he will consider us the same as these bad examples.

While Jesus understands that we are NOT capable of being righteous on our own, he died so that he could make us to be righteous.  And once we obtain that beautiful privilege, we need to strive to be and demonstrate the righteousness of God.  Anything short of that is just putting on a silly costume.

Reflecting the SON, 

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com