Do you remember when you couldn’t wait to give someone a very special gift? Your joy and excitement in giving it surpassed the value of the gift.

So it is with God. He takes “great pleasure” in giving us His kingdom.

What is the kingdom of God?

It is so much more than heaven. It is the complete and unending glory of God revealed through his creation. It includes the earth and our solar system, since He owns it. It includes everything in His vast universe. It includes us, His creation, and all we do for His glory. And it includes the all-consuming and breath-taking presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

It is DisneyWorld, SpaceX and Apple computers combined…and on steroids.

It’s made manifest to us as humans through His Word and His Spirit. And it is His presence we are to seek after.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.” Luke 12:31-32 NLT

Did you get that? It is the Father God’s great joy to give us His kingdom. As we continually seek His presence, He takes great joy in giving us His kingdom. It makes us complete!

As we seek and honor God first, God honors us.

It’s confirmed again in the parable of the talents given to men, and how they used their gift. Two of them doubled their master’s investment. And what was their master’s response?

“His Lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’” Matthew 25:21 NKJV

In other words, “you multiplied what I gave you for my glory. Well done…let’s celebrate together!”

So let’s also enter into the joy of our Lord. Let’s continually seek His kingdom first, and enter into the happiness of God’s celebration!