Big Idea
The secret to a life of more is to make it less about you — seek God's kingdom first, and He will provide in ways you never expected.
Real joy, satisfaction, and significance come not from chasing more money, pleasure, or control, but from putting God's kingdom first and making life about loving Him and others. The road of kingdom-first living can look like a road of less, even scary and costly, but it is the only road that actually leads to more.
Key points
1Solomon's search in Ecclesiastes shows that chasing more of anything in this world leaves you with less.
Pastor Bill explains that Solomon, the richest and wisest man who ever lived, ran after wealth, pleasure, work, and political activism looking for meaning, and found none of it satisfied. He points out that God built us with a longing for eternity and relationship with Him, which nothing else can fill.
2Solomon's final conclusion is to fear God and follow His commands as the only true wisdom.
Pastor Bill walks through the end of Ecclesiastes chapter 12, where Solomon admits he should have listened to his father's advice to seek God first while young. He tells the congregation, especially the young, that this is the smartest thing they'll ever hear.
3Jesus teaches that seeking His kingdom first, not our own needs, is how we receive everything we need.
Pastor Bill reads Matthew 6:33 and explains it in context of Jesus' teaching on worry over food, clothing, and provision, applying it to modern worries like jobs, houses, and vacations. He describes the kingdom-first road as looking dark and scary next to a wide, well-lit road that seems safer but isn't where God is.
4Ruth's choice to give up security and cling to Naomi is a picture of putting the kingdom before self.
Pastor Bill retells the story of Ruth choosing to leave her homeland and follow Naomi into poverty rather than stay in Moab for a safer, more comfortable life, quoting her vow, wherever you go, I will go. He shows how this looked like the road of less but set up everything that followed.
5Boaz's care for Ruth as kinsman redeemer, rooted in his own mother Rahab's story, shows God providing in unexpected ways.
Pastor Bill unpacks how Boaz went beyond duty to provide for Ruth, and reveals that Boaz's mother was Rahab, a foreign prostitute who had put her faith in Israel's God. He argues Boaz extended grace to Ruth because he had seen it lived out in his own mother's story.
6The unnamed relative who refused to redeem the land shows the cost of choosing self over the kingdom.
Pastor Bill explains the kinsman redeemer custom and how the closer relative backed out once he realized marrying Ruth would cost him his own inheritance, while Boaz took the risk anyway. He notes the man isn't even named in the story, unlike Boaz and Ruth who chose the harder, less path.
7Ruth and Boaz's son Obed, whose name means servant, points forward through David and Solomon to Jesus, the ultimate servant and redeemer.
Pastor Bill traces the genealogy from Obed through David and Solomon to Jesus in Matthew 1, showing that the whole story of Ruth was never really about Ruth but about a bigger story of redemption. He connects this to Jesus, who said He came not to be served but to serve, as the ultimate kinsman redeemer.
Application
Pastor Bill frames the choice as picking the kingdom-first road even when it looks like the road of less, because that is the only road that leads to more.
Identify where you've made life about you
Reflect honestly on where you've been chasing more money, comfort, or control instead of seeking God's kingdom first, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what needs to shift.
Choose the kingdom-first road even when it looks like less
Trust God with the area that feels scary to give up, whether it's money, time, a relationship, or a habit, believing His way leads to more even when it looks like less.
Remember God's love before you take communion
As you take the bread and cup, reflect on Christ's sacrifice as proof of His love, and let that love be the reason you find courage to trust and follow Him.
Put your faith in Jesus if you never have
If you have never trusted Christ, Pastor Bill asks you to pray now, believing Jesus died for you and rose again, and turn from trying to earn your own way to God.
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