Getting your priorities right …

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In all the years you sat in classrooms, you’ve likely had a teacher who, seeking answers to a question they proffered to their class, primed the pumps of his or her student’s young minds by providing one of the answers to what was asked.

Now imagine that you were asked, “What’s your list of priorities in life”?

You could probably immediately think of several things to go on the list, although they wouldn’t necessarily pop into your mind in exact order of importance. On a particular occasion while teaching, Jesus gave us the answer to such a question. He didn’t provide an exhaustive list of all the things that should form our priorities, but He did tell us what should be our first priority:

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need,” Matthew 6:33.

KINGDOM PRIORITY
If, in your list of priorities, you had anything other than seeking the kingdom of God as priority number one, then as a disciple of Jesus, the order of your list is out of priority and needs to be corrected to the instruction given by Jesus. He is unambivalent about what He expects our first priority in life to be:

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else …”

Jesus tells us our seeking the Kingdom of God is to be of greatest priority in our lives, above and beyond all the other things that round out our list of priorities.

To “… seek the Kingdom of God ..” would mean seeking:

  • Relationship with God (first) and other Christians who, with us, are fellow citizens of the kingdom. Our relationship with God transforms us into kingdom citizens, and our relationship with fellow Christians is vital as we are connected to live out kingdom life together and collaborate in carrying out the work of the kingdom.
  • Making the work of an ambassador for Christ and His Kingdom a chief priority. As an adopted child of God, we are appointed as ambassadors in the kingdom, representing the King to a lost world, and carrying out the King’s mission of seeking the lost so they might be saved (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-20),

AN ACTION PRIORITY
There’s nothing passive about something that is priority, especially when it’s the priority that is “above all else”! To seek the Kingdom of God means we are:

  • Intentional in our relationships with God and fellow citizens of the Kingdom, and our work as ambassadors for the King.
  • Proactive in nurturing these relationships and being an effective ambassador.
  • Assertive in maintaining and deepening these relationships, and looking for opportunities as an ambassador.
  • Purposeful in maintaining our King as pre-eminent in every aspect of our lives, making all of life a part of kingdom living, and both seeking and creating opportunities to serve as an ambassador.

AN UNAMBIVALENT PRIORITY
Jesus’ unambivalent command to seek the Kingdom of God above all else comes at a time when being a churchgoer means attending a church service a couple times a month … or less.

That is not kingdom living!

That is not seeking the Kingdom of God above all else!

To seek the Kingdom of God in the manner Jesus commands means more than writing “seek God’s Kingdom” at the top of the list of priorities of our lives; it means we write it in at the top of our lists because we’re living out that command as a reality in our lives.

Are you doing that? Is the way you live your life a seeking of the Kingdom of God above all else?

Scotty