Kingdom stuff part 2

Since my post yesterday I feel like I need to back up a bit and clarify. I got a little ahead of myself in mentioning the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl. (Matt 13:44-45) I want to look at the context of chapter 6 since it clarifies exactly what I was thinking in terms of what/where my priorities should be.

The statement "...seek first the kingdom" is in the same paragraph about worry. He mentions two main areas we are not to worry about. It is two areas in which I do spend more than enough time thinking and fretting over. He says "...do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." I can imagine the disciples having this conversation:

"Peter, do you think this makes me look fat? These shoulder pads just don't do anything for me."

"Shoulder pads are so BC, Judas. I thought you were doing Adkins... maybe you should lay off the Shiraz for awhile."

Ouch. I love me my Lucky, Domino and Martha's Food magazines but what he's saying is that they are just that. Magazines. It's fun to dream and look and play but it will never be able to give me what I long for. It is at this point he says real treasure can only be found in kingdom stuff.

I've been thinking about how I could better simplify this idea of the kingdom. Here's what I've come up with. What does a kingdom have to have in order to be a kingdom? A king and his subjects. Now I'm going to take a wild guess but I do believe that the king is Jesus although occasionally every once in a while daily I try to usurp the throne and sit there myself. And in order for a king to be king he needs subjects to rule over which is me, you, us, them. If we are seeking (pursuing a life of) kingdom work we are to serve the king. We serve the king by living, serving and being in community with each other. (Matt 6 & 7)

Crap. That means that relationships are important. More important than anything else. I am not the best at relationships. Sometimes I really don't want to be around anyone. Sometimes I would prefer only to hole up watch some reality TV and surf some blogs but that doesn't last for long. We were designed to have relationships. We crave them. All one has to do is look at the number of new blogs created daily to see that. We desire to know others and to be known. But relationships are messy. They're not black and white. People get hurt. I get hurt. blah.

Back to the subject of priority. Jesus says it's not about me. It's about Him and it's about people. That is where the real treasure lies. He never says it's easy, in fact I do believe He says the opposite. Guess what the very next chapter, the very next topic Jesus addresses after stating where we should place our priorities? The dreaded and famous "Judging Others" discourse! "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." (Matt 7:1) It's as if He knows what our biggest roadblock could be. Thank God.

Wherein I preach a smidgen.

Since I’ve been home from visiting my parents I’ve been thinking a bunch about priorities. Do I even have them? Gee, I suppose the lack of priorities is a priority in itself, right? I mean if I have no priorities and live my life willy nilly (that’s my super spiritual term) what is currently in front of me I am giving priority to that thing, whatever it is at the moment, over anything else in my life. Kind of like a fish. Ohh, look at the shiny thing! There’s a shiny thing! It doesn’t matter if that thing I’m giving attention to is more or less important than the other things. Since I’m am putting time and energy into it, no matter how mundane or trivial, that is what my priority has become and what I have given myself over to.

So. I’ve been rethinking how I spend my time, how I relate to others, and my plans for the future. Priorities. I went to back to basics and opened the Bible to see what Jesus has to say about it. He tells me that I must first seek the Kingdom (Matt 6:33). He says that I am to do this first then everything else in my life will fall into place and will be taken care of. Alrighty, it seems simple enough. The Kingdom, what the heck is this Kingdom thing He’s referring to? I immediately think of princes and princesses in those funny cone hats with the little scarfy thingy hanging down, unicorns and dragons and the knights that say “nee!”. Well, apparently according to my man Ladd , He’s referring to much more than the literal reign of God. The Bible says the following of the Kingdom:

• the gift of life and salvation.


• the most valuable of possessions.


• those who are poor in spirit, who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, have the kingdom.


• Inheriting eternal life, inheriting the kingdom, and receiving eternal life are equivalent.


• restored communion with God now (though to a lesser, incomplete degree) and in the age to come.


• physical healing, deliverance from demonic possession, forgiveness of sins, and righteousness.

Seeking the Kingdom is active and ongoing. Nowhere does He say "okay then, you prayed a prayer! Good for you! Here's your heaven ticket. On you go now. Do whatever you want just make sure to redeem your ticket at the gate. One per customer please."* Ah, no. The context of the chapter tells us that He is giving instruction on where we should place our priorities.

Jesus illustrates what the Kingdom is like in the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl. Matt 13:44-45

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."

Remember the Clamppett's? I'm dating myself. Only instead of it being his land that he finds oil it's unclaimed land. Wouldn't he quickly go and sell everything he owns to purchase that rich black-gold land? How about the pearl guy? Here's a guy who views pearls all day long. That's his job. He's a pearl expert. Then one day after seeing the same old thing he finds the Hope Diamond of pearls. THE pearl of all pearls. It is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. He, too, sells all for the beloved pearl.

Here's what this is about: YOU are the pearl. YOU are the treasure hidden the field. Let that sink in a minute. God is the one who gives everything and sells everything just for you. You are that important to Him. You are the beloved. You are His priority.

And our natural response? Is to do the same in return. I give everything of myself to Him. How could I not? He becomes my priority. I am to seek first His priorities; feeding the poor, healing the sick, taking care of widows and orphans, you know - everything that Jesus did.

*In my head Jesus always has an English accent.

Mini Me

Inspired by the Vagabond book project Tootie works on her own artbook.

Vagabond Birthday

I'm participating in a traveling art book project aptly named "The Vagabond Book". My friend, Tracie, is the one who initiated it. I jumped on board the minute she suggested it. I've been wanting to work on something collaborative with her for awhile and this was perfect to get my feet wet. There wasn't too exhaustive of a commitment, just a couple pages to alter then send to the next person. Alas, I did keep the book almost 2x as long as suggested and have nothing to use as an excuse except for travel and preparing for Tootie's birthday party.

Speaking of Toots birthday (great segue, huh? And speaking of segue, H and I had a discussion about segue and how it's up there with other words that are abused such as regardless (irregardless), probably (prolly) and the misuse of ()'s of which I'm guilty.) she had a! Big! Party! She loved every minute of it. My house now has, gasp, girl stuff. We got her this, sans Barbie, and she loves all the little pieces to it. Heck, I like all the little pieces to it. However, this is not her most favorite of all gifts she received. What I'm about to reveal the one thing that was *the* most favorite and fought over gift out of everything hands down. It appealed to kids aged 11 to 2. What is this most coveted possession? A ball. A $2 10" diameter yellow drugstore ball. awesome.