Priority

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

When we read this verse we can see that the Lord Jesus Tells us to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Now I was Curious on what the Word “seek” Meant in the original Greek and its the word “Zeteo” Which means to Seek, look for, or Desire. The Lord Jesus is telling us to desire his Kingdom and his righteousness Before all these things and then these things will be added to you. But What are these things?

Lets read Matthew 6:25–32 ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”

Everything that the Lord lists are all material Things. Things like Clothing, food, drink. The Main is not to worry or desire these things over the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness, Because when you desire something more, you will prioritize it. Priority is when you give more Value to one thing than the other. The Lord is bringing us to a mindset of Putting more value into his kingdom than other things. There is an interesting Verse about Priority. We can find it in the same Chapter.

Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” What I have come to realize is that money can be used as an example for anything physical, because most physical things are bought with money. Here God is saying you cannot prioritize money or worldly things over Him. If you do on will be despised and the Other will be loved.

In this day in age many people are prioritizing money rather than the Lord, Many people are wasting their lives for the Dollar instead of the Kingdom of God. Lets go to Mark 8:36–37 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?”

Here God gives a clear comparison of Value, A man can gain the Whole world, but it wont profit Him if he Loses his soul. The whole world can be at the Palm of your hands, the riches, the fame, the cars, the husband, the wife, the likes, the followers Everything, but if you lose your soul it was of no Gain.

Prioritizing the Lord vs Looking the Part

Paul says something similar, lets read Philippians 3:4–8 “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”

He speaks of all his past accomplishements before his conversion. But in the End he Says ALL of it was loss because he now Knows Christ Jesus. What does this tell Us? This tells Us that the Lord isnt looking for people with grand accomplishments, He isn’t looking for people who sing the best, he isn’t looking for the best musician, He isnt looking for the Best Preacher, What the Lord Is looking for is a generation that will Priortize His Kingdom. He wants teens who will Prioritze His Prescence, Teens who will Prioritize His word, Teens who will Prioritize The Lord. The Problem is now People think the bare minimum is Enough. I wanna tell you something right now, if your only time with God is during service in the weekends, you are not prioritizing God, Having a Bible Verse on your instagram profile isn’t Prioritizing God, Putting on a suit and Tie to go to church isn’t Prioritizing God. See many people want to look like they Prioritize God, But We are not here to look a part, we are here to Work in the Kingdom. Let go to the Bible

1 Samuel 2:12–17 “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.”

The Sons of Eli were dressed as priests, they did the Work of a Priest, they had the title of Priests, But they didn’t Prioritize the Lord, in fact they were wicked and did what was wrong in the Lords Eyes. God isn’t looking for teens who Look the Part. An example of What God wants is in 1 Samuel 3:10–11 “And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.”

The Lord isn’t Looking for Phinehas’ or Hophni’s, The Lord Is looking for those who prioritize His Voice and his Kingdom, the Lord is looking for teens like Samuel. Teens who will open their ears to Hear from the Lord and not turn their backs on Him in favor of Wickedness.

Matthew 6:5–6 ““And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Many People Are worried about looking Like they prioritize God, then actually prioritizing God. God Doesn’t want your looks He wants your priority. And priority isn’t what you show to others in public but its what you do when only God is watching.

Jesus in Gethsemane

Kaua I need an example of what priority is, then Lets go straight back to the Bible

Matthew 26:39 “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””

I wanna give some context to this verse, The Lord Jesus Goes to pray with His Disciples and he feels so much anguish that he starts to sweat blood. The Lord Knows that His time is coming to be betrayed and handed into the Hands of sinners. He knows the cross Lies ahead, and so He prays, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. The Lord knew He was gonna die the most gruesome death, He still asked the Lord to pass the cup from Him, But in the end He said, not my will be done but yours. The Lord showed us to prioritize God in every way even with death Knocking on the Door.

Prioritizing the Lord in Need and in blessing

Prioritizing God is easy when everything is going well or so we think. Many times God will bless us but then we prioritize the Blessing instead of the God of Blessings. This is also in the word. The Lord Tested Abrahams priorities with Isaac, the Lord told Abraham to sacrifice His son promised by the Lord to him. Abraham showed his priorities and is called a friend of God. But what about when everything is going south? 1 Kings 17:11–16 “And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.”

This widow had a need to be met, she had no more flower, and could only make some for herself and her son and the die, but She prioritized what the Lord and the Lord Prospered her. But Many Times when we are in need we put the Lord to the Side. The rent is tight so we stop tithing, we start working more and spending less time with God, and that’s when we start depending on ourselves and we fall. Learn from this widow and prioritize the Lord even when the doors are closed, because he is the God of Open doors.

Another thing is that People will want the Lord to prioritize their prayer, but they wont Prioritize the Lord, many people want the Lord to speak to them, but they wont seperate a time to prioritize listening to the Lord, many people want to preach the word of the Lord, but they wont seperate time to Prioritize His word.

But when you prioritize the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness then God will also use you, the Lord will fill you, the Lord will do his work through you in the best way possible, His way.