In College, I had a friend who wasn’t exactly the best employee. Despite his lackluster abilities in the work place, he had an unusual talent for getting jobs. I once asked him how he was able to get the different jobs he had worked in, and he told me his secret. Often, most young people submit an application and wait for the business to call them back. My friend took a different approach. Instead, he returned to the store multiple times until he could talk face to face with the Boss.
When seeking the kingdom of God, often we resemble the people who simply submit resumes. Perhaps we pray, but our prayer lacks real conviction. We do not put our whole hearts into pursuing God’s kingdom and as a result we never discover the fullness intended for us.
When Jesus teaches us to seek the kingdom of God, he wants us to resemble my college friend. We cannot be content with the things of this world; we have to pursue heaven with everything we got. This is not simply a demand that God places on us, but rather the model which he revealed to us in Jesus Christ. God wants us to pursue him with the same intense longing with which he pursues us.
We are called to imitate Jesus Christ, not simply in a superficial way, but in the depths of a communion which should transform our lives. This communion is about learning to focus less on ourselves, and more on others. This self-forgetting is the road to authentic happiness because it is the means by which we participate in God’s divine life.
Let us seek these good things with the zeal shown by my college friend. Let us listen to Jesus Christ and knock constantly at the door of heaven, always pleading with the Lord for him to show us his majesty. Then, having sought with everything we have, let us have confidence that we will be answered.