A big lesson we all learn is that of righteous discrimination: things that God puts first in order of importance. Many things clamor for priority, therefore we need to know how to assess their value and not to give first place to secondary things. For example, the soul is more important than the body (Mark 8:36); the things of eternity are of greater importance than the things of time (Hebrews 9:27); life itself is far more important than possessions (Luke 12:15-21); spiritual strength is far more important than physical strength (Ephesians 6:10). Much of our trouble personally and culturally arises from the fact that we have reversed God’s priorities. How can we know what God wants us to put first? Here, as in every matter of faith and practice, the Word of God is our all-sufficient guide:
Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Notice how clear God’s order is. The Devil loves to sow seeds of discord in God’s people, but here the Lord tells us of the way of victory – not an easy way, but one that commands His immediate blessing. To worship Him, bring gifts to Him or enter into His service are all in vain if we fail to obey His requirement in Matthew 5:23-24. God’s work is often paralyzed, and His servants are frequently powerless, because of an unwillingness to seek and secure the reconciliation that is commanded and that will alone glorify Him and release His blessing. No Christian can be right with God if he is consciously wrong with someone. If the tides of God’s blessing are dammed up in your life, is it because you need to ‘first go and be reconciled…’? As you think of the matter at this moment, what is it that you…remember (v. 23)?
Here is a wonderful promise: if we will put God’s claims first and seek to do His will first, then we need have no anxiety about anything else, for He will provide for us, even in days of shortage! Compare vv. 31-32, which precede this great law of priorities, and notice from v. 33 that we are to seek first not only justification (indicated by “His kingdom”), but sanctification (indicated by “His righteousness”). It is possible to be in the kingdom of God and yet not really seeking His righteousness; saved, but not going on with the Lord (Romans 6:11–14). In the same way, it is possible to be justified and to disregard God’s call to sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Therefore, the promise of Matthew 6:33 is made to the Christian who is willing to go all the way with the Lord. He knows all about our temporal needs, and He waits, wants and guarantees to meet those needs if we will put first things first (1 Kings 17:13-16; compare Psalms 32:1-2; 34:9-10; Philippians 4:19).
How blind we often are to our own faults, and how quickly we observe the faults and failings of others! Nearly every time we criticize someone else for a certain thing we unconsciously criticize them for the thing of which we ourselves are guilty. The very solemn and searching words in Matthew 7:1 were spoken by the Searcher of hearts Himself (Jeremiah 17:10). Be careful how you use your critical faculty; look up Galatians 6:1 – and notice the last part of the verse!
‘Me first…’! How terrible – and yet how frequently we act in this way! A disciple, but a ‘me-first’ disciple – a self-centered Christian going his own way instead of the Lord’s way! There is only one answer to each of the following seven questions:
Is the answer to some of these questions – ‘ME FIRST’?
The Christian life is not just an outwardly reformed life; primarily it is an inwardly cleansed life (1 Samuel 16:7; compare Psalm 51:6,10). When the inward cleansing is thorough, the outward transformation is unmistakenly evident. God does not want outward profession merely. First: He wants inward possession (2 Chronicles 29:15-17).
Scripture purposely provides the practical outworking of God’s ‘first things’: