Seek God First
How many of you have ever made a priority list? You know, where you rank the things that are most important to you. How many people say that God comes first? Quite a bit. Out of those, how many actually back it up by living as though God is first in their lives? Well, maybe not as many.
Talk is cheap. Perhaps God is at the top of your list of priorities on paper but isn’t in real life. Maybe God isn’t at the top of your list at all! Even if God is truly number one in your life, we all stand to benefit from looking at the Scriptures that show the importance of putting Jesus first.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.
1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
Here are three verses in rapid succession that show us, in no uncertain terms, that God is to come first. Seek God first. Love God first. Do everything for God’s glory.
But that’s vague, isn’t it? Just as saying we put God at the top of our priority list doesn’t necessarily mean anything, saying that God commands you to put Him first doesn’t really hit home. Put God first…in comparison to what?
1 Timothy 4:8
For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Okay, here’s one example. Paul is saying that it’s not bad to be fit and healthy. However, being fit and healthy doesn’t put you in a right standing before the Lord on the Day of Judgment. Even more than that, godliness holds promise for this life…it benefits you now!
1 Kings 3:11-14
11 And God said to him [Solomon], “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,
12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
14 And if you walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.
This passage is where God appeared to Solomon and said that he could have anything that he wanted. He could have said anything from a ham sandwich to 10 million bucks, but he decided to go with wisdom. God was so glad that he said this, He chose to give Solomon riches anyways. The point is that while riches are okay, wisdom - certainly a righteous thing to pursue - is more important to go after.
Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.
Here, David makes the observation that He’s never seen God’s people go hungry when they’re living it out right. Don’t think this is a stretch; Jesus would not have asked us to pray “give us this day our daily bread” if He wasn’t going to answer it. David’s point is that righteous people don’t go hungry, so it holds up that seeking God still comes first, because apparently if you do you don’t have to worry about eating (the verses leading up to Matthew 6:33 actually address this).
Leviticus 25:18-21
18 “Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely.
19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely.
20 And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’
21 I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years.”
This passage deals with the Sabbath year, commanded in Leviticus 25:1-7. Just as we have a day of rest, the Israelites were commanded to give the land a year of rest. It says that following God is more important than at least your food, but we can probably use this passage to say that God is more important than your work. If we can’t, then it still makes sense, right? If God is more important than food, riches, and physical training, is it safe to uphold those first three passages, which place God above EVERYTHING you can think of?
But that’s crazy, right? Doesn’t this run contrary to logic and reason? I mean, even though you never had to worry about a Sabbath year, how many times have you blown off the Sabbath day because you had to get work done? Why did you do it? For me, it’s been either because I’m not diligent on the other six days or because I don’t believe that I’ll be able to get my stuff done if I don’t take that time that the Lord has set apart. How many times have you put the pursuit of money over the pursuit of God? Your motives were probably right - you want to have money to tithe, you want to provide for your family, you want to be able to pay the bills.
Hebrews 10:38
But my righteous one shall live by faith…
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Two quick verses. What do they have to do with anything? Everything!
I think a lot of times we tend to think of faith as merely belief in the existence of God, because that’s how our society uses it. But faith is more than that! It’s not just a belief that God is real but that God’s commands and promises are real, that God is not just existent but active and present in every aspect of our lives. So if we’re seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then we have to be living by faith. Also, look at the contrast between faith and sight. Isn’t walking by sight skipping a time of rest on Sunday because you see no way that the work will get done otherwise? Isn’t worrying about money living by sight?
What it boils down to is this. If God left your life, what would change? If you gave up your faith, would anything be different?
If nothing would change, then, quite frankly, you’re not living by faith. Let’s say that playing soccer was at the top of your list and you lived and breathed soccer. Maybe you missed classes for soccer knowing that it was soccer that was going to make you your money and your career. Maybe you blew off a potential girlfriend because you didn’t have the time. You’ve put faith in soccer, that it will give you what you need. What if all of a sudden you blew out your knee and couldn’t play anymore? Life would change. It’s the same principle that we’re examining here. If you blew up your soul and no longer did anything remotely close to pursuing God, would life change drastically? If not, then you’re probably not seeking God first.
It’s scary for me to write this article because I know that I’m not the best at this. A lot of times I write these not because I’ve got them figured out but because it’s what I learn in the Scriptures and it’s something that I need to learn as well. I’ve got a pretty analytical brain, which gets lost in shades of gray, thus making faith difficult for me at times. But this is what the Scriptures say. God has to come first, before even the most basic necessities, because we have to live by faith.
So think about that priority list. What’s at the top and what does that look like in your life? Live by faith, not by sight, and make sure Jesus is at the forefront of everything that you do.
Grace and peace,
Brendan
