On Sunday, I made the point that to seek the Kingdom (Matt. 6:33) today can be stated in the following way: “To seek God’s Kingdom is to value the character and priorities of Christ as the means to living.” I believe this is possible since Jesus believed the Kingdom of God related to His role as Messiah and this can be seen in how Jesus commands authority over the extension and parameters of the Kingdom of God (see Matt. 12:28; 19:24; 21:31; 21:43).

I chose the use the term “means” specifically for the fact that if we want to seek the Kingdom today, we do it through Jesus. It is through Jesus’ name that the Spirit has promised to work, it is through Jesus death and resurrection that we can enter Kingdom of God with confidence, it is through Jesus we hope for an eternal, earthly Kingdom to be established. Therefore, the Kingdom can be said to be based on who Jesus was/is (character) and what Jesus did (priorities).

So, you and I must consider those two hinges in how we live if we want to live with Kingdom values in the New Year. How do my actions/decisions/hopes/dreams relate to the character and priorities of Jesus? Any resolution that is not flavored with this sentiment, as its basis, cannot be centered on God. However, if we center our resolutions for the New Year (whether losing weight, or getting in shape, or being more giving, or spending more time with family, meditating on God’s Word more, etc.) on the conscience desire to reflect the character and priorities of Christ; then we are reflecting the Kingdom Jesus tells us to seek. We can then live this verse out and claim security that Jesus will meet all our temporal needs according to how they extend the Kingdom since that is what we want to see happen in Jesus Name.

May you and I believe this truth and kill the appetites that would seek to rob us of this joy.