“But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Matthew 16:23
What man savors, God does not savor. What men care about, God does not place as important. What does man care about? Houses, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, wives, children, lands, jobs, money, health, wealth. The list is endless. Endless cares and endless worries. All God cares about is His Kingdom and His people.
What’s the only thing that's going to stand when it's all said and done? What's the only thing that saves us? Him! So what really matters? The Kingdom of God! The Kingdom is endless! Because the Kingdom is the only kingdom that will stand in the end. Not the business kingdom, not the entertainment, not government, not health, no earthly kingdom will stand in the end.
Only the heavenly! So why are we so earthly-minded? Why are our thoughts not on the things above? It’s because we’re living for things below and not things above. It’s because we are savoring, we are caring more about things below than things above. We are savoring the things of man.
We are told from a child’s age that we are to grow up, go to school, go to college, get a job, and have a family. To set ourselves up for life. Practically from birth, we are taught to focus on these things and dedicate ourselves to these things.
Meanwhile, these things in God’s reality are supposed to be a natural part of our life. The Bible says to seek the kingdom and all its righteousness and all else will be added unto you! What’s all else? Jobs, family, mother, brothers, sisters, houses, lands, jobs, and so on. A hundredfold in this life and the life to come! He gave Peter the promise that He would take care of that which is natural supernaturally if he forsook all and followed Him
Peter left his life, his family, job, and dreams. What he was taught to go after from birth, he left that he would gain Christ a hundredfold, and in return, Christ gave Him those things a hundredfold. This is the exchange of the Kingdom, that we would give our life and He would give us life. In God's reality, our worries and cares about worldly things are to be at His feet, and He takes care of and works them out in the process of time.
Yet our focus, time, and desires need to be Kingdom because this is what matters. You can build an empire on this earth, cover your family financially for life, and have a big roof over your heads, but in the end, perish forever!
What does all that matter if you only get to enjoy it for 60 or 70 years? A vapor of time. Yet those who gave that small 60, 70 years to the Kingdom, get to have life abundantly forever! What are you savoring? This is what’s going to matter in the end and solidify and secure you and your family forever!
All that matters right now is that moment that will take place at the throne room, not that moment in your boss’s office when you get a pay raise. Yet that moment when the Father says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That’s what we should be living for because those words decide the rest of our eternity. The rest of our future.
We say these heavenly things matter more, but with our hearts, we’re more worried about the earthy. Looking to the next job, looking for a wife, looking for things to happen in a small amount of time. If we sow this small ten percent of eternity, we will reap a hundredfold in eternity.
The world still keeps us under this strong influence even when we do call ourselves Christians to care about money and security when even our security here on earth depends on our relationship with God. Religious people savor the things of man more. You will find that they strive to make it by. They live with a poverty mindset because they don’t have a heavenly release from God. What do you do when you live in poverty? You have the mindset of it. Yet when you live in the milk and honey of His provisions, it’s effortless.
What did you do to earn that? You followed Jesus! You forsook all like Peter! You gave your life like a fool and here you are now, not begging for bread! Not forsaken. And some are working their butts off to be accepted, begging for bread because they have been savoring the things of man. Savoring the things of man is foolish! Those that strive for earthly things continue to strive, never-ending. Those that strive for the heavenly, live on the easy yoke of His heavenly and earthly authority.
He has the power to give us a provision. He has the power over all types of security. The shields of the earth are His. He owns all the cattle on the hill, so why do you strive for the cattle? Nobody is saying don’t work or to not have a family or security of any kind. Yet what God is saying is let Him give it to you as you give your life to Him and that you would not be heavy-laden with worry and fear of tomorrow. Why fear tomorrow when forever is in Him?
There's no fear in Love. People look at preaching the Gospel as foolishness or as less important, but it’s more important than any job on this planet because the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation! You can save physical lives all day! Yet can you give them the thing that can save their lives forever? Can you give them the tree of life that they would live forever? The Gospel will lead us to life, and this life will lead us to death. Martha was the busy one, savoring the things of men, who looked like she was doing the right things and had her life in order. Yet Mary laid at His feet and Jesus said she picked the better part. She picked the better focus and the better things to care about, the things of God! The part that Mary picked lives forever. The part that Martha picked is only for now.
Those who strive will always be angry with those who receive it freely. Just like Mary and Martha. Martha was mad at Mary. Just like Cain and Abel. Cain was mad at Abel. One tilling hard the ground of the earth, concerned with the things of the earth and looking to receive from the earth. The other receiving from heaven, concerned with the things in heaven, with the provision from heaven to feed the sheep because He was doing well with heaven, with the things of God. Being concerned more for the house of God rather than his own.
God told me: Take care of my house and I will take care of yours. Labor for my house and I will labor for yours.
What did God say to Cain? If you do well! Well with what? Well with your heart, well with the Kingdom, pleasing to the King, you will be accepted in the beloved, you will be blessed, you will be favored. Obedience and alignment with the Kingdom bring favor. So what do you savor?
If you savor the things of God, you will have favor! We need to put a hundred times more importance on the Kingdom of God and a hundredfold of the earthly kingdom will start to be at our hands because we have authority over the earth. His authority is our authority. We overcome the earth when we overcome the god of this earth. Peter wanted to stop Jesus from the cross and Jesus called it satan! Satan wants us to savor the things of man. Satan has been the one from the beginning that has put the seed in us from a child to care more about this life. Peter wanted to save Jesus from the cross but the cross was going to save the world. Multitudes of those that believe! Do you believe? Because believing on the things of God saves us and secures us. Yet the things of man are only for a vapor. We overcome the god of this world when we stop savoring the things of this world.
Peter wanted to save the flesh but he would have killed the spirit inside of himself. Jesus had to die to give us life, to give us a new heart and a right spirit inside of us. In God’s eyes, the flesh didn’t matter because He was going to live forever either way! Why do you care about this life so much? The flesh will die but the spirit never dies, so which will you live for? What matters in the end? The Bible says to die is to gain, but we see someone in the church die and we see it as a loss!
Do you really believe that we will live forever? If your brother dies, you will see him again and it will be forever! What profits a man if he gains the world but loses his soul. The soul will always live but this life on earth will not always live. So my profit is to store my riches in heaven! My profit is to take no thought for tomorrow because tomorrow will always be mine because I have eternity!
When we move on to be with the Lord, the things that will be remembered will not be things that men savored on this earth but things that God savors, that will be kept most important in Heaven. That is our home. That is where our assets are. Where moth and rust cannot touch. In my Father’s house are many mansions, and here you are trying to get an earthly home that is a shack compared to what He has for you. What are you living for, what is of importance to you? Because on that day nothing will be important except for the Kingdom of God. Except for the things that God savors.
By Joe Pinto
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