Do you want to be smarter? Intelligence is highly rated in your culture, and people are admired just for being smart. But intelligence is a fairly stable measure, while maturity and wisdom are not. Do you see a lack of intelligence as a major hindrance in the people around you? Wouldn’t you say that they are held back more by fear, bias, and a lack of comprehension of the shape of reality than by a lack of reasoning ability? These are things that you can change, or can be changed in you if you accept the process.

Have you heard people refer to ‘the bottom line’? This is obviously a reference to money, and it implies that the final monetary value is the most important measure. The metaphor is so common usage that it is used in situations that are not strictly financial, but the financial basis of it still remains. The Bible speaks much about money because it is so important to people and reveals their true values. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Beware of the love of money. You cannot serve God and mammon. What other types of treasure are there?

Do you want to be popular? Who doesn’t? What is more popular than being popular? You crave human contact, and beyond that, human acceptance and approval. This is comforting and reassuring. Yet I said that the path that leads to life is strait and narrow, and few there be that find it. You are to lay down your life and pick up your cross and follow me. This will never be popular. Beyond that, you can expect persecution and be hated of all men for my sake. Does this put you in a dilemma where you have to make a difficult choice?

I told my followers that if they seek, they would find, and told them to seek first the Kingdom of God. These apply to you as well. So where do you look for the Kingdom of God? The conventional understanding is that heaven is up and hell is down, but these are more geometric than spiritual concepts. They may speak to transcendence, but are they helpful in the real, imminent world you live in? Fortunately I have given you more guidance in saying that the Kingdom of God is within you. It doesn’t get any closer than that. Are you able to find the Kingdom of God if you look there?