“… your Father knows you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Luke 12:30-31 (NIV)

In this verse in Luke, Jesus is saying to seek God’s kingdom and “these things” will be given to you. What are “these things”? Specifically, in the NIV, we are told those things are food and drink. Pausing here, I wondered if this verse speaks literally to those two general items, or if we can stretch it further to include all things needed by humans. I tend to think that is reasonable to make the stretch, because earlier in 27 we were talking about wild flowers and in 28 we were talking about grass of the field. These two particular items were brought up as examples of organisms that have needs. These needs are wholly filled by God. The point was that we are vastly more important, therefore we can lay down our worry and let God handle the obvious.

This is good news. If we seek hard after God’s kingdom, we will be provided what we need. These things that tend to make us anxious can be an afterthought, so that we can continue seeking God’s kingdom.

If you go to Luke 12:34 you see this.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Luke 12:34 (NIV)

Your treasure should not be in the kitchen, or at a restaurant, or at a bar, or any number of other places. Your treasure should be God. Seek after God and treasure the experience and the opportunity.

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But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Luke 6:35 NIV

This is a tough verse. If you are human, this is tough.

I have had people treat me very poorly as the years have gone along. It has taken everything I had not to fight back. I struggle turning the other cheek. The awareness that judgement and payment will be handled by God helps, but it is not what the human mind desires. We want revenge. The good news and bad news is that vengeance belongs to the Lord.

All of this being said, this verse says to “love your enemies”. That’s tough. It’s very hard. Difficult. The hardest word here is love. It’s one thing to be nice. It’s even doable to turn the other cheek. It is love that makes this verse difficult.

Listen to this verse though. Do this “then your reward will be great.” That sounds good. In fact, it sounds really good. God’s reward is always great. This one will be no different.

God is lighting up an area for us. He put an x over the spot. There is treasure within. It is up to us to do the work of digging it out. The reward will be great. Put yourself aside. Do what God asks. It is His command. He is kind enough to give us a reward for doing it. Such grace and mercy.

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