SET YOUR PRIORITIES
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Matthew 6: 33 – NAS)
After reminding us that we do not have cause to worry about our basic needs, Jesus tells us what we should give top priority. We are to first seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness.
Someone once reacted to the previous verses about how God already knows what we need by inquiring as to whether that meant we were not to ask for the things we need. But I don’t think that is what Jesus meant at all. He has told us not to worry about those needs (not an easy task!), but if we remember what is in the Lord’s Prayer we can see that we may indeed ask for such things (“our daily bread”).
The point in this verse is to direct our attention to where it should be focused: on the Lord, His kingdom and righteousness.
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount by describing what those things looked like: open hearted to the world, willing to mourn loss, to be merciful, be peacemaking, hungry for righteousness, steadfast in our commitment to Him even in the face of persecution. All these things make for the kingdom of God here and now. If we seek these things first, Jesus tells us, everything else will be “added to you.”
It should be straightforward for us. Seek God first, be His type of person in the world first, and everything else that we need will be placed in our hands, along with the authority of heaven. How hard is that? Spending time with the Lord in prayer, doing the “right things” shouldn’t be that difficult, should it? And yet, every day it seems we need to start over again, wrestling our hearts and minds away from concern about our needs. And if we are at a point where our needs are being met, then it is our desires that get our priority attention, even when they are in themselves worthy of God’s attention. It isn’t easy at all.
Often we tell our fellow believers, “I need to spend more time with God.” And we put that into practice, and what happens? Those prayer sessions become long stretches of prayers about needs, our own or those we have chosen to pray for. “I need this, Joe needs that, Sharon needs these things. Help us, Lord, we are needy.” And of course, there is nothing wrong in themselves with prayers like that. Our God loves that we do come to Him with our concerns, just as any father does when his child comes to him for comfort or help.
But do we really “spend time” with God? Do we ever do anything like being a child who climbs onto her father’s lap and begs her father to tell her a story or to show her something wonderful? Do we ever behave like the child who runs up to his father and grabs whatever part of his parent that he can reach to hug tightly in adoration. How many times have we smiled at the sight of a small child hugging a parent’s leg because that’s all the child could reach? Yet, when was the last time we approached God that way?
We let our priorities get skewed to focus on our needs because we do not open our hearts and minds to see the ways that God meets us every day. Our Father is all about us, ready at hand, and yet we do not give our attention to the wonders he puts before us. And we narrow our vision so much to our worries and concerns, that we choke off the actions Jesus called “blessed” in the Beatitudes. We don’t have time (we say) to really give over to mourning, and so we rush on with our lives with un-comforted grief carried inside us. Because we worry so much about ourselves, we do not give time to being merciful to those we encounter in passing during the day, whether it’s the reckless driver who cut us off on the freeway or the less-than-perfect waitress who served us at the restaurant. We forget mercy toward these people, cursing the driver and cutting the tip to the waitress. We see two people arguing and realize that they are clashing because they have each misunderstood one key point the other made. It would be easy enough to step in and say, “Bob, when Joe said X you took it as this and that is not what he meant. And Joe, when Bob reacted, you thought it was because of Y and that has nothing to do with it. You are both actually on the same page about this.” But instead, we shrug because it “isn’t any of my business.”
God wants us to be pro-active as His people, His children, His heirs, as we go through life. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to us.
Yet we keep worrying about the “things.”
Everything that Jesus described as being part of God’s kingdom and righteousness has, in fact, nothing to do with things. There is no physical object on this earth that is required for us to “seek the kingdom and God’s righteousness” other than other human beings. Because, let us remember, the kingdom of God is all about relationships: our relationship to the Almighty Himself and then our relationships to each other. Do we need food or shelter or money for those? No, we do not. Oh, money helps us “make more” of what we can do with other people, spending time, sharing meals, giving gifts. But we do not actually need money for those things.
Lest you think I am writing this from a place of comfort in my life, I’m not, really. At the time of this writing, though I have a nice apartment, this month’s rent has not been paid. Though I do have some food to eat, it is not much at all, for I have little means to buy greater amounts and variety. But it sustains me. It is“daily bread.” For months, the admonition from Jesus not to worry about our needs has been something I have had to wrestle with. Over and over in little ways, God has shown me that the more I clutch my neediness to me, the harder it is for Him to give me anything. You’d think it would be easy to learn this lesson, but the world finds ways to challenge us every step of the way. Yet, for all the worries that I let pull at me when I am awake, I sleep peacefully at night. My heart knows and trusts the Lord much more fully than my waking mind, it would seem.
And so in my struggling way, I try to shift my priorities back to what Jesus has put before us. To seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first. To know my need of God first and foremost (to be “poor in spirit”), to mourn for losses, to be gentle, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker, and to stand for the Lord no matter what. I ask for my daily bread, to be forgiven, and to be protected from temptation and evil. And then I ask that God’s will be done.
Some days I do it better than others. But I am trying to get my priorities straight with the Lord.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Matthew 6: 33 – NAS)
After reminding us that we do not have cause to worry about our basic needs, Jesus tells us what we should give top priority. We are to first seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness.
Someone once reacted to the previous verses about how God already knows what we need by inquiring as to whether that meant we were not to ask for the things we need. But I don’t think that is what Jesus meant at all. He has told us not to worry about those needs (not an easy task!), but if we remember what is in the Lord’s Prayer we can see that we may indeed ask for such things (“our daily bread”).
The point in this verse is to direct our attention to where it should be focused: on the Lord, His kingdom and righteousness.
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount by describing what those things looked like: open hearted to the world, willing to mourn loss, to be merciful, be peacemaking, hungry for righteousness, steadfast in our commitment to Him even in the face of persecution. All these things make for the kingdom of God here and now. If we seek these things first, Jesus tells us, everything else will be “added to you.”
It should be straightforward for us. Seek God first, be His type of person in the world first, and everything else that we need will be placed in our hands, along with the authority of heaven. How hard is that? Spending time with the Lord in prayer, doing the “right things” shouldn’t be that difficult, should it? And yet, every day it seems we need to start over again, wrestling our hearts and minds away from concern about our needs. And if we are at a point where our needs are being met, then it is our desires that get our priority attention, even when they are in themselves worthy of God’s attention. It isn’t easy at all.
Often we tell our fellow believers, “I need to spend more time with God.” And we put that into practice, and what happens? Those prayer sessions become long stretches of prayers about needs, our own or those we have chosen to pray for. “I need this, Joe needs that, Sharon needs these things. Help us, Lord, we are needy.” And of course, there is nothing wrong in themselves with prayers like that. Our God loves that we do come to Him with our concerns, just as any father does when his child comes to him for comfort or help.
But do we really “spend time” with God? Do we ever do anything like being a child who climbs onto her father’s lap and begs her father to tell her a story or to show her something wonderful? Do we ever behave like the child who runs up to his father and grabs whatever part of his parent that he can reach to hug tightly in adoration. How many times have we smiled at the sight of a small child hugging a parent’s leg because that’s all the child could reach? Yet, when was the last time we approached God that way?
We let our priorities get skewed to focus on our needs because we do not open our hearts and minds to see the ways that God meets us every day. Our Father is all about us, ready at hand, and yet we do not give our attention to the wonders he puts before us. And we narrow our vision so much to our worries and concerns, that we choke off the actions Jesus called “blessed” in the Beatitudes. We don’t have time (we say) to really give over to mourning, and so we rush on with our lives with un-comforted grief carried inside us. Because we worry so much about ourselves, we do not give time to being merciful to those we encounter in passing during the day, whether it’s the reckless driver who cut us off on the freeway or the less-than-perfect waitress who served us at the restaurant. We forget mercy toward these people, cursing the driver and cutting the tip to the waitress. We see two people arguing and realize that they are clashing because they have each misunderstood one key point the other made. It would be easy enough to step in and say, “Bob, when Joe said X you took it as this and that is not what he meant. And Joe, when Bob reacted, you thought it was because of Y and that has nothing to do with it. You are both actually on the same page about this.” But instead, we shrug because it “isn’t any of my business.”
God wants us to be pro-active as His people, His children, His heirs, as we go through life. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to us.
Yet we keep worrying about the “things.”
Everything that Jesus described as being part of God’s kingdom and righteousness has, in fact, nothing to do with things. There is no physical object on this earth that is required for us to “seek the kingdom and God’s righteousness” other than other human beings. Because, let us remember, the kingdom of God is all about relationships: our relationship to the Almighty Himself and then our relationships to each other. Do we need food or shelter or money for those? No, we do not. Oh, money helps us “make more” of what we can do with other people, spending time, sharing meals, giving gifts. But we do not actually need money for those things.
Lest you think I am writing this from a place of comfort in my life, I’m not, really. At the time of this writing, though I have a nice apartment, this month’s rent has not been paid. Though I do have some food to eat, it is not much at all, for I have little means to buy greater amounts and variety. But it sustains me. It is“daily bread.” For months, the admonition from Jesus not to worry about our needs has been something I have had to wrestle with. Over and over in little ways, God has shown me that the more I clutch my neediness to me, the harder it is for Him to give me anything. You’d think it would be easy to learn this lesson, but the world finds ways to challenge us every step of the way. Yet, for all the worries that I let pull at me when I am awake, I sleep peacefully at night. My heart knows and trusts the Lord much more fully than my waking mind, it would seem.
And so in my struggling way, I try to shift my priorities back to what Jesus has put before us. To seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first. To know my need of God first and foremost (to be “poor in spirit”), to mourn for losses, to be gentle, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker, and to stand for the Lord no matter what. I ask for my daily bread, to be forgiven, and to be protected from temptation and evil. And then I ask that God’s will be done.
Some days I do it better than others. But I am trying to get my priorities straight with the Lord.
Labels: Matthew 6, Sermon on the Mount
posted by Sarah | 1:41 PM
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