In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made it clear that God --His kingdom and His righteousness --must be our priority in life.
Matthew 6:19-21, 24-33.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
What's sobering about this passage is that Jesus is not talking about luxuries here, but about the basic necessities of life. Sometimes we get wrapped up in making a living, paying the bills, and trying to get a little bit of enjoyment out of life, and we neglect to put first things first. God says, we'll get to those things, but first you need to take the time to focus on me. If you put God first, everything else will fall into place. If you put other things first, you'll find yourself spinning your wheels.
In Luke 8 we find the Parable of the Sower. I don't want to read the whole parable here. Instead, I want to look at just one type of soil that illustrates the problem we're dealing with: the thorny soil.
Luke 8:14.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
The seed sown in the thorny soil bears fruit, but brings no fruit to maturity. Sometimes we are overjoyed because we see fruit in our lives, but fail to realize that we can be a lot more fruitful than we have been. We're satisfied with producing scrawny little apples when we could be producing jumbo prize winning apples. The difference between mature fruit and unsatisfactory fruit is not allowing God's Word in your life to be choked off by either the cares, worries and pressures of life, or by "going for the gusto" in life. Whether we are confronted by good things or bad things, we must keep God and His Word first in our lives.
Investing time to do your job well is not evil, your job can never be allowed to take the place in your life that rightfully belongs only to God.
Psalm 127:1-2.
1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
If you put other things before God --even seemingly worthwhile things --you'll find that you're accomplishing nothing worthwhile, nothing lasting. Jesus said, "Without me, you can do nothing." When we go after the things we want to accomplish and the things we want to obtain, neglecting God in the process, we learn firsthand the truth of Jesus' words. But when we seek God first, we find that He works with us, so that we can rest in Him.
Sometimes I feel that because I've listened to some gospel music, or listened to a preacher on TV or on tape, I've taken time to be with God. Don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong with these things. But they do not take the place of reading the Bible for yourself, or spending time alone with God in prayer
What has God promised to do for us if we DO put Him first?
Psalm 1:1-3.
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
You never lose out by making God your top priority. When you delight yourself in His Word and His Way, He will establish you, and He will cause you to prosper -- to successfully complete your journey.
How many times, though, do we throw God a quick prayer before running out the door, then feel, "I've done my duty for the day." We're in such a hurry getting out the door that we neglect to stop to listen to God. God may have something to tell you, or He may have something for you to do that day; but if you're too busy to listen, you'll miss out on what He has prepared for you..
We need to make time to be with God. We carve out part of our day to do everything else we want to do; we need to carve out part of our day to spend time with God also.
Many times people ask, "Where's the power of God that the early church saw? Why don't we see the same kinds of signs, miracles and wonders that they saw?" If you look at our lives, and at what's taking priority, you can see the answer. If we want to see God's power at work in our lives, we've got to make God our priority.
Sometimes crises come up in our families or on our jobs that require that we focus our attention more tightly than usual in a certain area; but we can't allow this to become the norm in our lives. We can't become so busy with our families, our jobs, our possessions, our goals, or anything else that we are too busy to spend time with God.
Jesus Christ is our perfect example. No matter how busy he was, or what was going on in his life, he took time to fellowship with God. He was tempted in all ways like as we are. There were probably times when he didn't FEEL like spending time with God --like he felt he had done enough for God already that day --but he always took the time to fellowship with his Father.
Matthew 14:21-23.
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
The day when Jesus fed the five thousand was a very busy one in his life. Yet, at the end of the day, instead of dragging himself to bed, Jesus went off by himself to pray. Far from seeing this as an unpleasant but necessary duty, Jesus seemed to see his time with God as a way to refresh himself, and gain strength and help and guidance for the work he had to do.
Mark 1:32-37.
32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
33 And all the city was gathered together at the door.
34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.
37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.
After a busy night of healing the sick, Jesus didn't sleep in late. Instead, he still took time to get up early and be with God. In this instance, his prayer time was interrupted. The disciples hunted for him and found him.
Luke 5:12-16.
12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
13 And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
14 And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Jesus didn't seem to follow a strict pattern of praying in the morning or evening. Sometimes he took time out in the middle of a busy day to be with his Father. After healing the leper, and ministering to a great multitude, Jesus withdrew from the crowds and spent some time alone with his Father.
Luke 6:10-13.
10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
11 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
When was the last time you did spent all night talking to God? Jesus, when faced with a critical decision, went off by himself and spent a whole night alone talking with God.
Luke 9:17-18.
17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?
Jesus had to take time to pray where and when he could. It wasn't always easy, with people looking for him.
Some of us use personal planners, to plan out the important things we have to do for the day. Schedule God on your planner. You schedule everything else that's important; plan for time with Him also.
Daniel was another man who made spending time with God his priority. His enemies couldn't find anything to accuse him of, so they came up with the idea of using his relationship with God against him.
Daniel 6:6-10.
6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
His prayer time was Daniel's regular habit. He let no one and nothing --not the king, and not the law --stop him from spending time with God. This may be one reason he received so much revelation from God.
Psalm 63:1-8.
1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
Are you thirsty for God? Do you see his love for you as greater than life itself? Do you find your satisfaction in God?
Everybody can't start the day with prayer. For some people, that's not practical. Everybody can't end the day with prayer. But we can all make time each day to be alone with God. We can each make God, and our time alone with God, top priority.
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