August 25 Daily Devotional

Heir of eternity

The man who knows himself to be a child of God and an heir of eternity has a very different view of things in this life and world ... and the greater that faith and knowledge, the smaller will these other things become. Moreover he has a definite specific promise. Let us lay hold on this promise and grasp it firmly. The promise is that, if we do truly seek these things first and foremost, and almost exclusively, these other things shah be added unto us, they will be ‘thrown into the bargain’. The heathen does nothing but think about these things.

The man of God prays about and seeks the kingdom of God, and these other things are added unto him. It is a specific promise of God.

You have a perfect illustration of this in the story about Solomon. Solomon did not pray for riches and length of days; he prayed for wisdom. And God said ... Because you have not prayed for these other things I will give you wisdom; and I will give you these other things as well. I will give you riches and length of days into the bargain (see 1 Kings 3).

It is not an accident that the Puritans of the seventeenth century, especially the Quakers, became wealthy people. It was not because they hoarded wealth, it was not because they worshipped mammon. It was just because they were living for God and His righteousness and the result was that they did not throw away their money on worthless things. In a sense, therefore, they could not help becoming wealthy. They held on to the promises of God and incidentally became rich!

Put God, His glory and the coming of His kingdom, and your relationship to Him, your nearness to Him and your holiness in the central position, and you have the pledged word of God Himself through the lips of His Son, that ah these other things, as they are necessary for your well–being in this life and world, shall be added unto you.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, p. 145