
Introduction to this letter from the son
Set your direction to "Truth" North
Have you ever been geographically lost, like really lost? What a terrible feeling. My type A tendencies want to stand up and scream when this happens, I hate losing control. These “lost” events are rare these days. With a mindless swipe and several taps, a “voila, there you are” small pulsating blue dot appears and your mystery is solved. With the blinking dot now in front of you, only half of the “lost” problem is solved. Doesn’t do you any good unless you have a destination in mind. And then there is the person who doesn’t even know they’re lost. I’ve done that several times. Oh, what a feeling when you realize your folly.
In the days of old, we used compasses to guide and direct us. I love compasses. I think they are amazing instruments. Correctly calibrated, they will never fail you. Don’t even have to plug them in. Big ones, small ones, brass, wood encased, they come in a thousand different designs. But they all do the same thing; they point to North.
We humans all have a compass. It’s hardwired in by the designer, but live in the enemy’s territory long enough and without proper care and attention, the markings on these compasses become extremely hard to read or removed entirely and replaced with our own markings. But let us not be mistaken, every man or woman is headed somewhere. There is no such thing as a directionless human being. We are either headed towards Truth or the opposite, Lies. There is no possibility of any other choice.
In this letter to Pops, I share with him my take on Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God….” In an age where relativism has corrupted our compasses, where black is white, white is black, good is evil and evil is good, this verse can help us recalibrate our compasses to point to True North or True Truth.
This letter was written on January 10, 2019
Set your direction to "Truth" North
Seek first the kingdom of God...” Matthew 6:33
Good morning Pops,
I have been mulling this verse over in my mind for the past 12 hours. It might be one of the more quoted statements of Jesus that we hear. I am not a theologian and for sure I’m not an expert in Hebrew or Aramaic, so I’ll take a stab of what these words speak to me. I do appreciate what Billy has to say about this verse and agree with him fully.
Jesus was a revolutionary. Not a political revolutionary but a religious one. One thing Jesus made thoroughly clear throughout His earthly walk was that He despised organized “religion.” He came to turn “religion” on its head. His greatest enemy were the priests, Sadducees and Pharisees. He did not hold back on what He thought of them. He was quite “out with it.” “Vipers, empty tombs, blind guides,” yup, Jesus didn’t hold His thoughts back. Nothing has changed. He still despises “religion,” man’s institution to attempt to be “good enough” for God. “Religion” also many times is the organized effort to earn approval from each other, the ol’ slap on the back showing each other how good and righteous we are by our deeds. Religion, at large, most times leads to a system of works, not grace. I never like it when someone calls me “religious.”
Jesus came to establish the path to relationship with Him, not religious activity. He died so that we can walk and talk with Him every day, not focusing on “doing” things but “being” with Him and “in” Him. If there is going to be any powerful “doing” for God in our lives, it will always flow first out of a powerful “being.”
Jesus shook up the religious establishment of His day. This “do the right things” crowd was very into their high-status rating in their society. I mention all this because this verse (Matthew 6:33) is spoken during the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon was the start of His broadside attack on the religious culture of the day. These types of words had never been heard before in Jewish history. He is verbally turning over all the established religious tables of the day. The crowds were “amazed at His teaching.”
“But first seek first His (God) kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” NIV

On my sailboat, a tool sits prominently right at the helm (steering wheel). It is called a binnacle, otherwise known as a compass. On it is a big old N for North. It is trustworthy as the day is long. There is never an excuse to not know what direction my boat's bow is headed.
How many times are we directionless in our lives? We all go through periods where we just want to know what direction we should head. There is only one reason we find ourselves in this situation, we have taken our eyes off the compass. The compass is ALWAYS right.
This verse is our direction corrector!
“Father what do you want me to do? I can’t hear you! I can’t see you! Please point to the right direction. Father, pleeeeeez, why won’t you answer me!” “Steve, look at your compass. Head to "truth" North first and then I will provide all the other details you will need.”
Seeking Father God is taking a heading of true North with your life. “Well, what do you mean by that?” Seeking His kingdom, seeking Father is not complicated. If you really want to seek Him, I mean “reeeeeally” want to, He will reveal the very next step for you to take. Stop……be quiet for a moment (most likely more than a moment). What’s the very first thing that comes to your mind when you ask yourself, in this very quiet moment, what does God want me to change in my life to be closer to Him? There will be an answer; if you “really” want one. Psalm 145:18 "The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call on him in truth." BUT we need to stop, stop long enough, to listen.
"The Lord is near to all who call upon him, who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18 NIV
Now do it. Don’t argue, just do it. Guess what, you have just turned your boat’s bow towards North. You are now seeking His Kingdom. (His kingdom is His place in your heart.) After you have done it, what’s the next thing He wants you to do to keep the process of getting closer to Him going? Be quiet…. listen. Now do that. Are you seeing a pattern here? Don’t worry about the other stuff, keeping seeking Him, keep going. Keep being quiet before Him and listen. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 NIV
"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 NIV
He will add (give) the answers to all the other questions you have in just the right time. Just keep going towards Him. Don’t let up. FIRST seek Him and He will take care of you if you are heading North, towards Him. If your eyes are focused on Him and you are doing your part to get close to Him, and staying close to Him, you will have His peace and joy no matter what your circumstances. It may be calm or the storm may rage about you, but you can have confidence He will bring you into His harbor of peace and joy.
I know this is way too simple, but this is what this verse is saying to me, Pops.
"Spiritual truth is never discerned by intellect, only by moral obedience." Oswald Chambers
Love you Dad!
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