Putting First Things First (Friday Devotional)

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

- Matthew 6:33

When Tyler police and paramedics reported to the home of an elderly woman in November 2017, they knew she needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible. Though she didn’t seem to have any life-threatening injuries, she was too weak to stand up and had in fact been scooting around the floor for hours by the time they arrived. They weren’t sure exactly what was wrong, but they knew they couldn’t leave her until she saw a doctor.

But when they urged the woman to go to the hospital, she refused and offered a different solution. “All I want is a Big Red to drink and I will be fine,” she told them matter-of-factly. When the first responders tried to tell her medical attention was more important, she insisted otherwise. No Big Red, no hospital. Finally one of the paramedics made a deal with her: if she would accompany them to the hospital, he’d buy her a drink himself and bring it to her room at the hospital. She agreed.

It’s easy to smile at the misdirected priorities of that woman in Tyler, but we tend to do the same thing spiritually, putting a premium on what we think matters most while missing what is truly vital. We ask God to bless our priorities instead of aligning ourselves with His. We pray for blessings and then forget to be blessings. We give our time to the causes and the activities we value most without stopping to wonder which ones God thinks are most important.

Jesus told us where to direct our energies and what to prioritize above all else: “seek ye first the kingdom of God.” He followed that command all the way to the cross, doing God’s will even at the greatest possible cost, and as his disciples we are called to do the same. Our mission is not personal gain or private satisfaction, but to glorify God and share His gospel with the world.

We all have goals, plans, and dreams, and God doesn’t necessarily call you to cast those aside—just to remember whose plans matter most. God has uniquely gifted you to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What could be more important than that?