In the Center
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. – Matthew 6:33 NKJV.
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” – Matthew 4:4 NKJV.
When I was 15½ years old in Oklahoma at that time you were eligible to obtain a Learner’s Permit to drive a vehicle with a licensed driver. We lived on a blacktop road that was in poor condition. A half mile south of our house the blacktop ended, and it was a dirt road.
My first time to drive with my Dad was in his new pickup. Since I wanted to be driving so it would be easy for another vehicle to pass on the left, I started off driving as close to the right edge of the road as possible. There was a problem with that though because the farther from the center of the road you went, the worse the road became. My Dad then gave me some words of wisdom about driving in the center and missing all of the bumps.
Matthew 6:33 tells us how to be in the center of God’s will and when we do “seek first the kingdom of God” and are in the center of His will “all these things shall be added to you.” What are “all these things”? We are told in the preceding verses and in 6:31 are told: “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ Living the Christian life is much like driving on an old beat-up blacktop road. The closer you are to the center, the center of His will, the fewer of the bumps and potholes that you will encounter. No, you will never be free of problems, but you will stop hitting the potholes of sin, and the potholes of worries.
To “seek first the kingdom of God” it will be necessary to read, study and meditate on the Word of God as Jesus says in Matthew 4:4. The Bible is the compass for our lives and the more of it we have in our lives the closer we will become to the center of His will.