Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
(Matthew 6:33 – KJA)
And all these things will be added to you.
Many people, upon reading this passage, seem more interested in the “things that will be added” than in the Kingdom of God and its righteousness: human beings, in their natural state, are immediate, limited, and truly selfish, wanting to obtain not only what they desire, but also..., And on top of that, instantly… in the blink of an eye!
And, given the contamination of their nature by sin, there is a void (which many do not want to admit) within them: life, which is known to end, seems meaningless, and no matter how much one achieves, this void remains, leading many to try to fill it with more and more. Social advancement, status, money, and power.
And the emptiness always remains, inspiring people to conquer, to obtain, to search for something to fill them, but it will never happen in this way.
A few years ago, when journalist Luiz Carlos Prates commented on Xuxa's departure from Globo to Record, he highlighted the alleged human need to work until their last breath. In the video, he makes some basic errors, for example, by implying that work redeems humanity from original sin… but let's not even demand a truly well-founded interpretation of Scripture from someone like him, who is not a theologian.
That's not the point to highlight.
What should be highlighted is his mention that work, among other things, "numbs the awareness of finitude"—that's the crux of the matter!
With this statement, he exposes what most frustrates the relationship between human beings and their existence in this world: mortality.
And indeed, many try to achieve more and more, more and more social advancement, in order to fill the inner void they carry and, as Prates says, forget that One day they will have to face death..
Ultimately, this is what leads many people to expect things from Jesus Christ that he did not promise: the solution to their problems, the satisfaction of their desires, and personal fulfillment.
Seeking to "anesthetize" themselves from the awareness of their own mortality, they feel entitled to say: "I receive," "I take possession," "I determine" when expressing their personal desires, placing them before God.
And when the time finally comes for them to face their own mortality, even when everything points to the end of their journey on this Earth (for example, when they are already old and diagnosed with some terminal illness), they continue to hope that, at the last moment, God will reverse the situation and heal them, even knowing that death is inevitable and will come to everyone, including them, sooner or later.
And that is why many end up paying more attention to the "added things" than to the Kingdom of God when reading the passage highlighted at the beginning of the text... and even among "Christian leaders," there is no shortage of those who assume that everyone has already understood that Jesus' promise regarding eternal salvation is the priority and, therefore, it is not necessary to pay much attention to this point.
However, there is a double mistake there.
This is due both to the belief that God's promise of salvation has already been fully understood, accepted, and assimilated by all listeners and attendees of the meetings, and also to the belief that the "added things" encompass ALL THE DESIRES of those considered already converted to Christ!
First of all, even though Jesus uses the examples of the birds of the field and the lilies—which were the object of God's care and had sustenance and "garments" more beautiful than those of Solomon—He makes it clear, at the end of the passage, that the promise of God's care is limited to what His children NEED and not necessarily to everything they DESIRE!
In other words, God will provide what is necessary for the human NEEDS of those who believe, but this does not imply fulfilling all their WISHES. Check it out:
Therefore, I tell you:
(Matthew 6:25-34 – KJA)
Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink;
nor about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or store away in barns;
However, your heavenly Father sustains them.
Are you not much more valuable than the birds?
Which of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life?
And why are you worried about what to wear?
Consider how the lilies of the field grow.
They neither work nor weave.
But I assure you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
So if God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
How much more so you, men of little faith?
Therefore, do not worry, saying:
What will we eat? What will we drink? Or even: What will we wear?
For it is the pagans who seek after all these things; but your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Of course, eventually God may enrich and give earthly glory and authority to one of his children.
This will happen when necessary, when there is a purpose for it, such as when a Christian receives authority among the powerful of the world or wealth to, in some way, help needy and/or persecuted brothers and sisters.
Likewise, by grace, God may grant the satisfaction of his children's desires, provided that this does not jeopardize their faith and salvation.
But, as has been said, this is GRACE, not merit or achievement: God will do it WHEN, HOW, and especially IF He wants to do it.
God's promise to care for His children in the world is entirely tied to their needs, not their desires.
And in order to live, it is not necessary to be rich, famous, powerful, or to dress luxuriously; it is enough to have one's sustenance… and this is the promise given by Jesus in Matthew 6:33.
Paul himself was an example of what can happen to a Christian in this world for persevering in his decision to follow Christ and carry his cross to the end: he lost everything he held in the highest esteem, including all his prestige—as a former Zealot—among the Orthodox Jews (see Philippians 3:4-8), in addition to having spent five of his approximately 30 years of ministry in prison.
But, as he would say to Timothy, he had finished the race, kept the faith, and was not afraid of the time of his departure, because the crown of righteousness was reserved for him.
As for me, I am already being poured out like wine in a drink offering.
(2ⁿᵈ Timothy 4:6-8 – KJA)
The time of my departure is drawing near.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith!
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day.;
and not to me only, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
So, in this case, what can we expect from Jesus when someone is converted?
Read Mark 8:34 e Luke 9:23 To find the answer, you must deny yourself, take up your own cross, and follow him.
In fact, as shown in an image circulating on the internet, the Gospel would not be a call for Christians to deny themselves if their purpose were to satisfy their earthly desires.
Denying oneself is what Paul also affirms:
And He died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves.,
(2ⁿᵈ Corinthians 5:15 – KJA)
but to Him who died for them and rose again.
From the moment of conversion, it is Jesus Christ who determines the course of a Christian's life, not the Christian's own desires.
Personal interests must take a back seat, or even be forgotten, since the life of someone brought to Jesus now belongs to the Savior himself, and should no longer be lived to prioritize the personal fulfillment of the convert.
Furthermore, there will be another aspect to consider:
THE CROSS
The cross that Jesus refers to originates from the very Christian condition of "going against the grain" of the world, that is, ceasing to be guided by secular parameters and beginning to obey biblical parameters, basing one's conduct on Scripture.
Out of love for the Savior, a Christian can no longer defend or live by many of the things that the world appreciates and defends, because that contradicts their faith.
On the contrary, being the salt of the earth and the light of the world (according to Matthew 5:13-14He must combat such things and admonish those who practice or defend them… and this will generate animosity, friction, and even persecution from the world.
Eventually, God may even place a specific cross upon the Christian for a defined purpose.
This was the case with Paul who, in order not to become arrogant with all the revelations he received from God, had to endure what he called a "thorn in the flesh,"* as he relates:
And to prevent me from becoming arrogant because of the greatness of these revelations,
(2ⁿᵈ Corinthians 12:7-10 – KJA)
A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
However, He declared to me:
“"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.".
Therefore, I will gladly boast about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
For this reason, for Christ’s sake, I can be happy in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong!
Paul prayed three times that God would take it away from him, but God only replied that divine grace was sufficient for him.
Paul, the greatest evangelist the world has ever known, had to live with a "thorn," whose purpose was to prevent pride from taking over his heart and to trust that, even though it was something momentarily bad, it had a good purpose.
Thus, when Jesus comes to the heart of each new convert, he does not come to bring them money, power, riches, fame, prosperity, or even the promise of an easy life or healing for any illnesses: all that He brings is a cross and the promise of eternal glory, after the afflictions that all Christians face and go through in the world, which He overcame.John 16:3).
In short, what Jesus is telling you is: "Carry this and follow me to the end of the journey.".
But if God's promises are so restrictive regarding what to expect from the Christian life in this world, how can one find the motivation to follow the Savior?
Indeed, as Paul himself says, if hope in Christ is focused on this present life, Christians are the most miserable human beings in the world.1ˢᵗ Corinthians 15:19).
In this world, Christians cannot expect much good, because if the world hated their Lord, it will hate them too, as Jesus himself said:
If the world hates you, know that it hated me first.
(John 15:18-25 – KJA)
If you were of the world, it would love you as if you belonged to it.
However, you are not the property of the world;
But I chose you and set you free from the world; for this reason, the world hates you.
Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.'.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.
If they obeyed my word, they will also obey your guidance.
However, the world will treat you badly because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
If I had not come and spoken to the world, they would not be guilty.
But now they have no excuse for the sins they have committed.
He who hates me hates my Father also.
If I had not performed among them the works that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin.
But now they have seen and witnessed everything, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.
But this happened so that what is written in their Law might be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a reason'.
However, it is precisely because hope in Christ is not focused on this world, on the present order of things, that taking up the cross and following him is so worthwhile.
And this is precisely the point regarding the implications that need to be fully understood and assimilated by the Christian, so that the "added things" do not become more important to him than the Kingdom of God: any earthly conquest, however great, will have no value when life in this world is over!
Whether you are the richest and most powerful person in the world, or the poorest and most humble, the situation is identical:
Because we enter this world with absolutely nothing,
(1ˢᵗ Timothy 6:7 – KJA)
And when we leave here, we can take nothing with us.
But the fact of being a child of God infinitely surpasses any human decoration or award, precisely because it leads to a life where pain, sadness, or death no longer exist.Revelation 21:4).
In the new life—to be enjoyed by Christians in eternity—their position will be superior to that of the angels themselves.1ˢᵗ Corinthians 6:3), reigning together with Christ over creation (2ⁿᵈ Timothy 2:12).
All the suffering endured by Christians in this world does not compare to what they will receive in eternity.Romans 8:18).
Therefore, even though following Christ in this world is painful and difficult, and even though the weight of the cross may bring Christians to tears… nothing is more worthwhile than renouncing everything—including one's own life, if necessary—in order not to lose salvation in Christ.
As Peter also said:
For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God;
(1ˢᵗ Peter 4:17-18 – KJA)
And if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
And, “if it is with difficulty that the righteous are saved, what will become of the ungodly, the sinner?”
In this way, may the cross be, for all Christians, the assurance that they are with Christ and are saved, so that they no longer fear the judgments of the world, which may kill the body, but never the soul.
Only with Christ is the Christian absolved from the judgment of the one who can cast both soul and body into hell.Matthew 10:28), simply awaits the eternal glory that will never be taken from him, feeling that the existential void—so disturbing to people and even exposed by the words of the journalist quoted earlier—is fully filled by the love of Christ.
In the Bonds of Calvary
ORIGINAL TITLETake up your cross.
PS. — Paul does not state what the “thorn in the flesh” he had to endure was, and there is much speculation surrounding its true nature: some speak of opposition from adversaries, others of epilepsy, but the most likely explanation is that Paul had some vision problem (this is because he states that the Galatians loved him so much that, if they could, they would have plucked out their own eyes to give them to him, according to...) Galatians 4:15).
I can anticipate that many people will likely not understand the opening image, and I believe it's necessary to point out that the car moving ahead of the people is a typical "follow me" vehicle, used in airports to guide aircraft to specific parking positions or, sometimes, to takeoff... which I imagined to be the situation of those people, added to the image based on the following passage:
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore that person gently.
(Galatians 6:1-5 – KJA)
However, take care of yourself, lest you also be tempted.
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
For if anyone thinks he is important when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
But each individual should evaluate their own attitudes.,
And then you will know how to be proud of yourself, without constantly comparing yourself to other people.
Therefore, each one must carry their own burden.
The "follow me" vehicle doesn't have the power to make aircraft take off, but its function is to guide them to the point where the pilot can decide whether to take off or not... that's why I discreetly added the logo of The Worst Gospel to the vehicle!
The "visibility conditions" are worsening every day as governments and media conspire against the Lord: it seems that the end times are approaching ever more rapidly, and before the Lord returns like a thief in the night, we can already observe signs of the prophesied reign of the Antichrist consolidating not only in Brazil, but throughout the world!
In the 2023 phase of "The Worst Gospel," I decided to use new formats in the hope of helping to increase the reach of content related to the Scriptures—stories, videos, shorter texts, guest authors…—and this publication, which I took the liberty of revising and illustrating, is part of that project.
Thank you for reading this far.
I still need all the help I can get: comments, shares, and reactions help spread this content, which was entirely produced with the intention of contributing to the edification of the Body of Christ in the world.
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