Out of the Shadows and Into the Light

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Now is the time everyone likes to make resolutions. I’ve never been a big resolution-maker myself, although I do like the thought of starting a brand, new year. We plan and have lofty ideas and goals and ways to make our lives better.

We think losing weight will make our lives perfect. Or climbing the corporate ladder and making more money, surely that will make our lives perfect. Or finding a spouse--a first one or a new one--or putting all our efforts into this relationship, that’s bound to make our lives fulfilling. Or we could just determine to pour all our efforts into serving at church. 

We make all these plans, thinking that in them alone will be the magic bullet that makes our lives all we want it to be. Somehow, though, those resolutions don’t seem to last that long, do they? And even if they do, they never seem to be quite enough and we go searching for something else to fulfill our lives.

The thing is, we can resolute until the cows come home, but unless Jesus Christ comes first in our lives and He fills that void that only He was meant to fill, we will keep trying to fill it with something else.

As I look back on this past year, I realize the one thing the Lord has shown me over and over again is that all things are but a shadow of His grand and perfect love for us. Only He is meant to fill the emptiness in our hearts and fulfill our deepest longings.

When we don’t seek God first and allow Him to be everything to us, we will automatically begin to focus on lesser gods--relationships, careers, entertainment, drugs and alcohol--to fill the void. None of that will ever completely satisfy and so we hungrily continue searching and trying to fill that emptiness with everything but Him. Even service to the Lord will not meet our spiritual needs without first seeking relationship with our Heavenly Father.

As I look ahead to the stark-white pages of the coming year, I wonder what will be written on them. Will they be filled with stories of running ahead of God and trying to fill the void of my heart that His absence has left with all those other things?

The Christian life is not about seeking the things, it’s about seeking after God. It’s about an active, loving relationship with the Lord. It's about the act of daily worshipping the King of kings in all we do. And if we are making plans without Him, we could be taking ourselves far away from the awesome plans He has for our lives. We could be settling for good, when He desires to give us His best. But when Christ is first in my heart, then my spiritual eyes are focused and the Lord can show me what His plans are and He will give me the power and strength to carry them out.

When we make the decision to make the Lord our number one priority, when we focus on knowing and loving Him, when we allow relationship with our Heavenly Father to fill that deep, dark longing in our souls the way He desires, then everything else will fall into place. He will make sure of it. Not that our lives will be perfect, but we will have the peace of knowing that no matter what happens, we are right in the center of His will.

Seek the Lord wholeheartedly and then wait in faith. He’ll show you where to go and what to do and how to do it, and you’ll have His power to accomplish it. And who doesn’t need God’s power to drop a few pounds, right?

All God's best to you,