WHERE IS OUR FOCUS AND WHAT IS OUR TOP PRIORITY?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy
went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
(Matthew 13:44)

MEDITATION:
Many of us have a problem:
    “Our faith is something tacked onto our lives.”

In other words, our faith is a “shared priority” with
many other things (and some of them are selfish things).
To the apostle Paul, his faith WAS his life.

Jesus said,
    “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate
     the one and love the other, or you will be devoted
     to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24)

Do you believe that?

We are to have one main goal in our life,
and that is to know Jesus Christ:
   – personally
          (to know Him in real life,
           rather than knowing about Him, or His work)
  – powerfully
          (in a way that has a great impact on our lives)
   – passionately
          (with strong feelings or beliefs)
   – preeminently
          (superior to, or notably above all others; outstanding)

When we know Jesus Christ in these ways,
everything else will flow out of that.

Some may say,
     “But wait a minute. I’ve got other things to do!
       I mean, I’ve got a job. I’ve got to rest.
       I’ve got to have recreation. I’ve got to have friends.
       I’ve got to do this, and I’ve got to do that.
       I can’t just narrow my interests to one thing.”

However, when we bring our life into a committed focus,
all of these other things will “contribute” to the main thing,
rather than “take away” from it.

Matthew 6:33 says,
    “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
     and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Unfortunately, too many of us have a different and
selfish interpretation of this scripture – we say…
    “But seek first the things YOU want to do, and your
     faith and righteousness will be given to you as well”

ACTION:
Just as Jesus (and Paul) knew that “the kingdom” had to be FIRST,
we too need to give “seeking His kingdom” top priority in our lives.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promises to those
who seek You as their top priority. Forgive me for allowing
my selfishness to put other things ahead of what should be
my number one priority. I pray that the Holy Spirit will help
me to rearrange my priorities appropriately, so that my joy
will be increased and my life will point others to Jesus.”

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