Luke 12:27-31 - Seek His kingdom!

12:27,28

Jesus then uses the example of the wild flowers. They are just clothed in beauty, yet put no effort into it. God clothes them. Solomon was famous for his wealth and splendour, yet none of his splendour matched that found in nature. Wherever we look we find that nature is better than the things that we make. Its beauty and magnificence is greater than anything we create. The functioning of creatures is greater than any machines we invent. So again Jesus reminds us that we are far more important to God than the flowers of the field.

Now all this does not mean that we should not be designing clothes, or inventing things, or creating works of art. It certainly does not mean we should go around naked waiting for God to clothe us! We are different from all other aspects of creation, we were created in God’s image. We were created to be creative, but we are to be creative as God’s creatures, for that is what we are. We are meant to live under God’s care, as God’s children. A child knows it is under the care of its parents, and goes exploring the world in that knowledge. We are to do likewise. Instead we rebelled against God and said we can manage fine without Him. And just as a child who runs away from home soon finds itself in danger and full of fear and insecurity, so has the whole human race.

12:29-31

Here we get what life is not about, and what life is about. Life is not about what we will eat and drink, it is not about being utterly consumed by our daily needs. Yet for many that is what life is about. In some parts of the world people are genuinely extremely poor, and one could understand their being focused purely on getting something to eat. In the richer parts of the world many are drowning in debt, and many are focused on making ends meet. But we need to remember that Jesus was not speaking to a rich nation, but to Israel two thousand years ago. The world tells us to focus on material goods, Jesus tells us that life is so much more than this. He does not tell us that material things don’t matter, nor that we don’t need them. He tells us we do need them, but God knows that we need them, and that life is about so much more than this. We were created to seek first the kingdom of God, then the material needs will be met as well. Now we need to be careful that we do not twist this into seeking the kingdom so that there things (material goods) are given to us. We are to put the kingdom first, we are to put Jesus first, for that is what we were made for.