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Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105
(262) 763-3021
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Pastor Scott Carson
Grace Church of Burlington
December 7, 2003
With 37,000 square feet of living space, parking for 28 cars and an artificial stream stocked with salmon, Bill Gates' $75 million home, sprawling across five acres of hillside, is one of the largest and most expensive built. But for the world's richest family, it was still too small. Designed to impress heads of state, Hollywood celebrities and industrial moguls, the house on the bank of Lake Washington needed extending for a remarkably prosaic reason: Bill and Melinda Gates were expecting their third child. According to planning permission documents lodged with his local city council, the founder of Microsoft made a crucial oversight when commissioning his home. He specified 24 bathrooms, six kitchens, a 60-foot indoor pool and a dining room to seat 120 guests, but only four bedrooms in the 11,500 square foot inner sanctum.
In documents filed with the Medina city council, an exclusive suburb of Seattle, Mr. Gates' representatives argued that the house was designed for a bachelor and is now occupied by a family that finds it "isn't fitting as they expected it to.” 37,000 square feet just wasn’t enough!
But Bill Gates would also find that 370,000 square feet is not enough either! Why? Because God did not design us to get satisfaction out of things. Deep in the heart of every person is an awareness that we are on this planet for a purpose much greater than . . . having a career, paying our bills, accumulating things, loving our families or even fulfilling our roles as upstanding citizens. And when our heart’s motive is not right, even going to church and attempting to worship God can leave us feeling that something is missing.
Our Lord gave us the only way to reach a higher purpose and escape the mundane, discontented way of life in which so many of us are trapped. “But seek first His kingdom” (Matthew 6:33). God’s kingdom was a popular phrase in Jesus’ day. It means “the realm over which God’s kingship is tangibly demonstrated.” Put differently, it would mean asking: “What would it look like if God were in charge of Burlington or Wisconsin?” It would look like heaven on earth. God would rule with absolute fairness and justice, yet with mercy and compassion.
Can I challenge you to take a moment and work through that same thought process for the following areas of your life? What could you do differently right now to bring these areas under Christ’s dominion now: your family, your work, your finances and your friendships? What would it look like if God were in charge of your family? Your work? Your friendships? Your finances?
But Jesus does not stop there. He also tells us to seek. God wants each of us to seek to demonstrate His Kingdom lifestyle in our worlds. We are to make our homes ones in which God is ruling and in which His order is seen. Our finances are to demonstrate His control and priorities. In the areas of our friendships, business and community involvement, we must seek to show forth Christ’s Lordship and be His light to those in darkness.
And when Jesus said first, He was indicating that we are to make the seeking of His kingdom the absolute priority of our lives. That’s a tall order when you consider how many other things demand our time and focus. But the Lord promises that when we put Him first, then all those things that might have been put ahead of Him will come in to order and turn out right, “all those things will be given to you as well.”
Friend, what are you living for? If you are a believer and seeking anything other than His kingdom first, you are never going to be content. You may have a lot of things. You may be incredibly busy. You may even accomplish a lot. But it will not satisfy. It will leave you as empty as cotton candy.
Friend, if your life is characterized by unhappiness and discontent, let me challenge you to evaluate your priorities. Who’s kingdom are you living for? Who’s are you focusing on? It is only as we seek His kingdom first that we have the joy and contentment that He designed for us and longs to give us.