Heavenly Arithmetic

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6.33).

All our pockets have holes (see Hag. 1.6). As we live life, we lose things: the checkbook, the car keys, our physical energy, our hearing, our memory, our health, our fervor; we may lose our mind. And some lose their first love (Rev. 2.4). The passage of time is a great thief; it creeps up on us with us barely noticing and swipes our treasures.

But Christ spoke of adding, not subtracting. His conception of the Christian life was one of augmentation, enrichment, addition, no matter how many birthdays we’ve had.

Peter also spoke of arithmetic: add to your faith virtue, add
to your virtue knowledge, add to your knowledge self-control, add to your self-control perseverance, add to your perseverance godliness, add to your godliness brotherly kindness, add
to your brotherly kindness love (2 Pet. 1.5–7).

Add! Don’t let life be a constant subtraction, a continuous depletion, a steady drain on our spiritual vitality. Instead, let it be characterized by growth and the uninterrupted enrichment of our soul. Don’t be satisfied with just going from bad to good—go from good to better and from better to best (Phil. 1.10). It’s possible to be alive when you’re dead (Jn. 11.25) and dead when you’re alive (1 Tim. 5.6). Let’s not let life’s subtractions rob us of the best life we can live.

~Kenny Chumbley