Relationships, wealth, health, happiness … These are common answers to the question, “What are your top priorities?” While the list isn’t the same for everyone, they still typically reign supreme as most important to an average person. Today’s society thrives on several kingdoms that rule in our world, such as economy, media, government, and more. The daily seeking of success within these earthly kingdoms makes it inevitable (without intentionality) to miss the kingdom we should seek first- the kingdom of God.
Jesus said, “So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from Him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly.” (Matt. 6:33 TPT) What a simple, but challenging statement! It’s great to know where to focus, but how do we constantly chase something that often seems intangible? Not to mention the rulers of this world that are constantly chasing us! The things that are less important don’t always feel less impactful. After all, not prioritizing them leads to divorce, debt, sickness, sadness, and more! The reality is that God isn’t saying, “Don’t prioritize them at all,” but to keep them in their proper place. They don’t have to be final, but they should never be first.
So, what does it mean to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first? It is not about placing God on the top of our daily checklist, as a task to be completed. Prayer? Check! Read the Bible? Check! – No, it’s not that. It’s prioritizing God as the center of each thing instead of just over it all. When we place Him at the core of our schedules, conversations, decision-making, meetings, workouts, and more, He reveals to us the systems of His kingdom and endows us with His character to function accordingly while doing our normal activities. Consequently, when we live from this place, we experience joy, grace, creativity, and success on another level. When HE remains our bullseye, our ultimate target in life, His favor ripples from the center of our being and affects everything around us. Divine downloads, fruitful outcomes, and contagious influence become our new norm as heaven unlocks its unlimited resources to us! It’s truly amazing!
Imagine maintaining every effort, every day from a place of God pursuit. That phone call, or email, or post that we must respond to, that person that we must help, or task we must complete – what if we sought God first in everything? Or what if we really applied the laws of heaven here on Earth? How differently our problems and conflicts would play out as we keep Christ at the center. Chasing God’s kingdom and righteousness first begins with truly seeing everything else as less important. It’s not about having time with our God, but having God in our time, all the time. So, let’s be intentional to remind ourselves to keep the first thing first, in the middle of all.