Whose Kingdom Are You Seeking?

Reflection for Sunday, March 2 -- The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

By: Judy Morss

Gospel of Matthew 6:24-34

Jesus said to his disciples:
“No one can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,

or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field,
which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,
will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’
or ‘What are we to drink? or ‘What are we to wear?’
All these things the pagans seek.
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 given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”


Ash Wednesday is this week, and so we enter into the Lenten season. As I enter into the Lenten desert, I hope to draw closer and closer to our Savior, Jesus the Christ. The readings for this Sunday seem to have a common focus seeking the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. There we will find the love of God and His care for us. Isaiah 49:14-15 tells us that even if it were possible for a Mother to forget her child, "I will never forget you."

Our response to Psalm 62 is "Rest in God alone, my soul" and we are told that "Only in God is my soul at rest; from Him comes my salvation."  In Matthew 6:24-34 Jesus tells his disciples: "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other." He further tells us that we should not worry about our life or the day to day issues in our lives. All that we need will be given to us. Our focus must be on the kingdom of God.

We are not to worry about tomorrow; "tomorrow will take care of itself."  To stop worrying about tomorrow is not an easy thing. Jesus invites me to trust Him and know that He will give me what I need, according to His plan for me. Now comes the hard part. His plan for me; not my plan for me. I need to hear and receive this invitation to trust in a more personal, deep way. I need to feel the comfort that Jesus offers and accept and feel the bond, the special connection and the tenderness that God has for me.

God has a plan for me; He created me to achieve that plan. As I reflect on these readings, it becomes more and more obvious to me that I MUST decide who I will serve. When I focus too much on my wants and needs (security issues) then I am serving a false god. There is freedom in the decision not to worry about all of the external things, but to trust that God will provide for my needs. When I release myself from serving my own needs, I free myself to serve others. And that change in my focus, opens me up to all that the kingdom of God provides.

With peace and love,
Judy