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“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6: 33 [i]
We all have dreams. The brain is active all night long. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders:
Adults and babies alike dream for around two hours per night, even if they don’t remember it. In fact, researchers have found that people usually have several dreams each night, each typically lasting for five to 20 minutes. [ii]
These dreams occur when we have what is called REM sleep—“rapid eye movement.”
One Night of My Dreams
There is no reason to go into why we dream or what they mean, but even if the dreams never make sense, we do dream.
We also have waking dreams and schemes, and I have been an expert in the realm of such waking notions. As a child, I had a lot of imaginary playmates with delightful fantasies to play out their lives. Such dreams in adulthood have helped me to develop characters in my fictional works. Sometimes our dreams develop into schemes, and such mental acrobatics may not always be spiritually healthy. We do not get to play God. Yes, God knows our impulses, and He knows what thoughts, motives, and actions are within His perfect will. Rather than dreaming up and scheming to get what we want, our happiness is far more secure when we first seek the righteousness of God and let Him add up our future to His perfect reality.
So, how do we seek God’s righteousness for life in the here and now? Psalm 15 is a good example:
Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever. [iii]
It looks like this:
- Honesty, integrity,
- Do the right thing
- Tell the truth
- Refuse to chinwag about others
- Seek the good of your neighbor
- Uplift your friends behind their back
- Avoid fools and bad actors
- Fellowship with other believers
- Keep your promise no matter how difficult it is
- Be generous with what God has given you
- Never perjure yourself
And it looks like this:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5: 22-24
Challenge: Do the dreams and schemes that play about in your mind line up with God’s righteousness?
Prayer: Holy Spirit, show me how to live and keep me from dreaming and scheming what displeases my Lord and Savior. Rather than daydreaming, may I mentally, virtually, and spiritually walk in Your presence—in step with You and in the same direction. For Jesus sake, and in His name. Amen.
[i] All Scriptures from English Standard Version unless otherwise noted
[ii] National Institute of Neurological Disorders. Brain basics: Understanding sleep.
[iii] New Living Translation: Psalm 15 NLT – Psalm 15 – A psalm of David. Who may – Bible Gateway
One Response
Thank you.