“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
Everyone in the world has the exact same number of hours in a week . . . 168 . . . so how are we to explain the difference in the production level of the high achievers? The answer is found in a single word – priorities! It has been well said that “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”
What have you been aiming at lately in life? Is it in line with God’s plan and purpose for your life?
For the Christian, ranking an order of priorities for life is not something we need to try and figure out or even pray about. Jesus made it perfectly clear what our priorities are to be in life. To be sure, if we are married, our spouse is to be a high priority. If we are a parent, our children are to be a high priority. If we are working, our job is to be a high priority. But regardless of our roles in life, we are, first and foremost, a child of God, and our highest priority in life must be Jesus. As the Lord said in our verse for today, we are to seek God first in life. When we do, we can rest assured that all the other priorities in life will fall into place. But that will only happen when God and God alone is seated on the throne of our lives.
When we allow anything to move God off the throne of our lives, we set ourselves up for failure. We may be putting in lots of hours and working with a disciplined effort, but the results will always be less than God’s best for our lives, because we are seeking less than God’s best. The apostle Paul helped us recognize the importance of making the most of the time God has given to us by admonishing us that “Now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). Remember this powerful truth: When you spend an hour you have one less hour to spend . . . so spend it wisely.
I doubt that anyone would disagree with the statement that the less time there is in life, the more valuable it becomes. As Paul said, we are closer to our salvation than when we first believed. We are nearing the Jordan, and soon we shall cross it and enter into our Promised Land. But before we do, let us take time to evaluate our priorities and make sure we have them in the right order: God first and everything else after God.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 