Seek Ye First

by Chris Simmons

The command is simple, but the application poses challenges to us all. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Jesus taught that claims of submission to Jesus as “Lord” need to be substantiated by doing His will (Matthew 7:23) and likewise claims of priorities (seeking God first) can not stand alone. Our lives must validate our assertion that God is first in our lives. How is this done? How do we know if our lives are really demonstrating that God reigns supreme in our lives?

Jesus told two parables that demonstrate how one can measure his priorities. In Luke 15:1-10, Jesus told the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd left the sheep in the fold and searched diligently for the one that was lost. In the parable of the lost coin, the woman set aside all other tasks and duties and turned over every inch of her home until she found the lost coin. What do these two parables have in common? Both the shepherd and the woman devoted and prioritized their time for their sheep and coin. Priorities in our life will be reflected in how we spend our time. We will naturally devote our time to those matters of life which are most important to us. Should not someone be able to observe how we spend our time each day and determine if we indeed are seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness?

Indeed, we all live busy lives. We need time to sleep, time to eat, time to work at our occupations to provide for our basic needs and time for other necessary things of life. What do we then do with the rest of our time? Should not a child of God spend this time with a focus on God, His word and the spiritual things of life? Seeking after God takes time. Where is our time for reading and studying the Bible? Where is the time for prayer? Where is our time for worship? Where is the time for raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Where is the time for service to others? Or rather, do we ask first, where is the time for my recreation? Or, where is the time for my entertainment? Or, where is the time for reading my magazines and newspapers? Or, where is the time for self?

Perhaps we just don’t think about how we spend our time. Perhaps we just deal with whatever comes our way and then if we have time left over, we consider giving some of that to God. To live in such a way is spiritually dangerous. Paul exhorts in Ephesians 5:15-17, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” If we do not plan our time, Satan will, and he will be sure to fill our days with tasks, duties, responsibilities and pleasures that will do anything but draw us closer to God. If we are seeking God first, will we not see first to providing the time for Bible study, prayer, worship and service in our schedules before other worldly matters block them out? In the parable of the soils, (Mark 4:3-20) how did the thorns choke out the fruit of the word? The thorns represent “…the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things…” and they prevent the child of God from becoming fruitful by focusing their time on the cares of the world, riches and “other things.” It’s amazing how easily we allow those “other things” to dominate our time and keep from spending our time on spiritual matters. As we often sing in worship to God, it does “Take time to be holy.”

Another parable of Christ focuses on another aspect of putting God first in our lives. In Matthew 13:45-46 we read, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Seeking God first also involves how we use those resources God has blessed us with. The merchant prioritized his finances towards the pearl when he recognized its great value. If we likewise recognize the unsurpassing value of the Church, the Kingdom of God, should we not do the same? We are commanded in the scriptures to “lay by him in store” (I Corinthians 16:1-2) and we are to do this as “…he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.” The word “purposed” is an interesting word in this study as it comes from the Greek word “proaireomai” which means “to choose for oneself before another thing (prefer).” That is, we are to lay aside our gift to the Lord before we allocate our financial resources elsewhere. We are to prioritize our financial means with God in mind and not come to the first day of the week ready to give whatever is leftover after all our other bills are paid.

The children of Israel were guilty of this form of hypocrisy by claiming their allegiance to God, yet they were giving to Him what was left over and second best. We read in Malachi 1:7-8, “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled Thee?' In that you say, 'The table of the LORD is to be despised.' But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?’ says the LORD of hosts.” Offering what is left over or that which we have no other use for to God, in terms of our blessings or time is to despise God.

We must be ready to confess our allegiance to Christ as our number one priority in life. The question is, would someone who followed us around on a daily basis be able to tell what our priority is based on how we spend our time and our material blessings?