Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
An integral part of a healthy walk with Christ stems from what we choose to focus on in life. The Christian life is a supernatural life that is lived in the natural realm. When the apostle Paul was writing to the church at Corinth about being at home in the body, but absent from The Lord, he declared that as long as we are in these mortal bodies, we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:6,7). Isn’t it interesting that in the verses that precede and follow this verse regarding walking by faith rather than by sight is the word confident.
Just prior to speaking about our faith walk, Paul tells us that he did not look at the things that were seen, but at the things that were unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18). I understand the things that are seen to be referring to his outward, physical circumstances, which were quite daunting (cp. 2 Corinthians 6:3-10, 11:23-28). Paul could endure such adversities because he was not looking at, not focused on, the things that could be seen. I believe that Moses had the very same perspective because we read in Hebrews that, “by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27) One can only see Him Who is invisible with the eye of faith. And one can only receive that gift of faith by the grace of God, through faith in The Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 11:5,6; Ephesians 2:8).
What we are talking about here is the need for us to cultivate a Godward and heavenly perspective in life. We must repeatedly preach to ourselves the truth that, as Christians, we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Hebrews 11:13). Our citizenship is in heaven, from where also we look for The Savior, The Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20). While we are absent from The Lord, we need to diligently determine to set our affection on things above, not on things of the earth (Colossians 3:2).
This doesn’t mean that we “check out” of society and move to some cave where we have no contact with the outside world. On the contrary, we are taught in Scripture to display our faith in Christ with hard-working, God-glorifying work ethics (Ephesians 6:5-9). Proverbs repeatedly warns us against laziness (Proverbs 24:30-34) in order that we may provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8) and be a good witness (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). However, iO (Luke 8:14).
