“So
we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:18
When we take stock of the
priorities in our life, we often find them out of order. We are tired,
depressed, irritable and stressed out because we are majoring on minors in our
life. We assign too much importance to certain activities and people that need
to be lowered on our list of priorities. There are many verses in the Bible
where Jesus tells us to seek first His Kingdom, to love Him with all of our
heart, to die daily, to lay our life down for our church family. God does not
give us Biblical mandates such as these for His benefit, but for ours.
God knows that as humans, we
tend to take the road of least resistance. If we do not commit to putting God
first on our list of priorities, we may slide away from living a spirit-filled
life and settle for a carnal, fleshly existence. Even worse, we may slide into
sinful behaviors, which will rob us of our righteousness, peace and joy. God
knows that if we compromise our values, we will not reap the benefits He has
for us both in Heaven and here on earth. Jesus loved us enough to die the
horrendous death on Calvary’s cross for us, the least we can do for Him is to
give Him first place in our life.
Jesus
does not demand all of our attention, just the first portion. He wants to reign
as King in our life. Putting Him first does not mean that you have to get up
early enough to have a morning devotion. The priority is to have a devotion
time, no matter what time of the day you have it. Evening, morning or even the
lunch hour is a good time to focus your time and attention on God, as long as
it is in a quiet place at work, home or in nature.
Well, you know He is
not in first place if you share that top spot with anyone or anything else; or if our calendar and checkbook have more
notations for worldly events and giving than spiritual ones (Luke
12:34, Matthew 6:21); or if we have something come up during regular times of worship or Bible
study and we do not choose worship over that person or event. In the conflict
of priorities, a spirit-filled person always chooses God first.
Take
an honest look at your financial spending and your time. Evaluate where most of
your time and money are spent. That is your priority. Once you consider the
depth of God’s love for you, the vision of where you want to spend eternity,
the quality of life you want to enjoy here on earth, and your intensifying
desire to be one with God’s Spirit, you will realize that your priorities
definitely make a difference. Rearrange your priorities so that your goals are
the ones God has for you. This realignment may need readjustments often,
because the stresses of life often push us off course.
Start
by acknowledging your need for Jesus as your Savior, answer His call on your
life, desire to grow in your knowledge of and relationship with God each and
every day, and make Him your number one priority. God planned our birth and
life for His glory (Revelation 4:11). He purchased us with Jesus’ blood and our life now
belongs to Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). He wants to have first place in our life (Exodus
20:3). Putting
God first does not negate our responsibilities to our family, job, church and
our own needs; it simply means that we prioritize all of these things in
relation to God as our first priority.
God
desires that we care for our bodies, because it is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1
Corinthians 6:19-20). He states that those who do not care for their own family are worse
than barbarians (1 Timothy 5:8). The Bible tells us to obey those in government and business
who have rule over us (Hebrews 13:17). When we put God first, everything else lines up in
order. You cannot have any relationship without spending intimate time
developing it. Developing our relationship with God gives us the energy to care
for our body, our family, our ministries at church and the duties at work (Philippians
2:1-8).
Prayer:
Lord
Jesus, help us to prioritize our thoughts, words and action. Remind us to spend
time with You through Bible reading; times of concentrated prayer in which we
not only talk, but also take time to listen; corporate and private times of
worship and Bible study; following the leading of Your Holy Spirit throughout
our day, and doing only those things which He inspires us to do; putting God’s
work first in our calendar and finances; and rejecting any thought, word or
deed that is contrary to the nature and commandments of our Father God. Help us
to realign our priorities by making a list of our current priorities and
praying about God’s will for each moment of our time. We know that true peace
and freedom only come when we develop a submissive attitude to the will of God
for our life.
Thought for the Day:
Those
who surrender their will to God’s will are the most fulfilled and blessed
people on the planet.