Matthew 6:31-34 "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Have you ever felt like a complete failure? You read your Bible some, your pray most of the time, and yet you still keep getting tripped up by the same sins and temptations. What gives? God knows you are trying to "be good" and live by His rules, isn't He supposed to strengthen you? Where are your victories? That Hollywood moment where you boldly proclaim "Get behind me Satan!" and he scurries away...
One morning I was praying and asked God a similar question, "Why do I keep failing in this area?" Silence... Again I asked, a little more specific question - "Why do I consistently fail in this area?" I did not really like the answer. It came gently yet firm, though undeniably truthful... "You are not being consistent in the basics."
The verse I listed above tells us to seek first the kingdom of God, not to simply seek Him in our freetime, when we have a few minutes, or whenever there is a crisis... we are to seek Him first on a daily basis. We are to have a relationship with Him. A relationship takes a commitment on both parts, it takes communication, respect, and work... if neglected it withers.
A sports team that consistently struggles usually has players that have neglected the fundamentals, they might have mastered them at one time, but at some point they were no longer the priority. It is not until they go back and emphasize those basics that they can improve as a team, they can bring in all the superstars they want but unless the priorities of the group is being solid in the fundamentals they will struggle. Our walks are no different. We might have started out reading our Bible daily, praying consistently, etc - but start neglecting those things and our walk will suffer.
Maybe it is time to evaluate our priorities...
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