Grace and God's kingdom

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.     Ephesians 2:8-9

When Jesus told the disciples that they were to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, He used a word that means to earnestly seek something. Jesus was saying, “You can seek and find God’s Kingdom, and when you do, all the things that you spend your time pursuing will be yours along with spiritual resources you will never have when earning a living is your only goal.”

Some forget that there are things that money will not do. Sir Ernest Shackleton discovered that in 1914 when his ship, Endurance, was crushed by the Arctic icepack. The ship’s designer intended that the freezing ice would simply push it up so it would rest on the icepack. But it didn’t work. When the ice crushed the ship, Shackleton called his men and said that survival was paramount. A thousand miles of cold Arctic ice stood between them and Elephant Island. He told his men that they could take with them only two pounds of personal gear, only what was essential to survival. To prove his point, he took his gold cigarette lighter and several gold coins and threw them on the ground stomping them into the ice with his foot. Gold coins are worthless on arctic ice just as they are at the entrance to God’s kingdom.

Grace – not gold – ultimately opens heaven’s door. Paul explained, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Yes, you have to work and earn a living, but keep in mind that there is more to life than climbing the corporate ladder or reaching the top of your profession.