Have a read of John 6:1-15. This is where Jesus feeds the 5000. They were so impressed with this miracle that in vs 15 it says that they were ready to force Him to be their King! Now read vs 22-69. Again we see that the crowds were there waiting for Him but not because they wanted to hear what He had to say, but because they wanted to be fed again. They didn't recognise that this Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah that the Scriptures spoke about. 'Food for free! Hooray! This is the kind of King we need!', they must have thought, but when He declared,
"I tell you the truth unless you eat the flesh and drink His blood, you cannot have eternal life within you...I Am the true bread that came down from heaven..." (John 6:53 & 58)
Well, that changed their minds quickly and they deserted Him. (vs 66) They just didn't understand, they wanted to be fed physically because all they saw was the Roman control over them, but Jesus had come to set them free from spiritual death, the bondage that the devil had over them, which was eternal! They were after his presents, not His Presence!
You might think, "How blind I would never do that!", but the truth is that many times we still do that today. We become so focussed on what we want God to do for us, that we only spend time with Him to ask for His presents, instead of delighting ourselves in His Presence! So after we forget to thank Him and praise Him for what He does for us, we grab our present and don't even acknowledge that it came from Him.
Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need,"
There is nothing wrong with praying for our needs, we are told to do that (Matthew 7:7-11), but when it becomes the only time we spend with our Lord, then our Heavenly Father becomes just a Santa Clause that we expect presents from.
We are to delight ourselves in the Lord our God. our relationship with Him should be our priority and when we have that, it's amazing how so many things just fall into place!
So are you seeking His Presence or His Presents?
"If from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deuteronomy 4:29)
More Scriptures:
God bless you all and have a great week!
Love Giovanna!