Priorities and Needs

Matthew 6:33 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness..."

Okay. I realize here Christ was talking about not worrying about material things. Which is completely true. But it should also be a "whole life" application.

God and my desire to serve Him should always be first in my mind. If I follow His word in all things, everything else will fall into place. Not saying that everything will be exactly the way I think it should be, but things will happen that will help me stay on the right track in serving God. There are things that happen in my life all the time that I can't help but wonder, "What reason does God have for this happening to me right now?" I have come to the conclusion that on the other side of my troubles, not only will I be wiser, but I will be better equipped to help someone else who may be in a similar situation. That old saying, "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger" has truth to it. We will have troubles. We are promised that as followers of Christ there will be hard times, though everyone's hard times will not be the same. But in our times of trial, we should continue to seek God and righteous living, even if it seems the world is against us. There may be some changes you have to make. But it will all be worth it in the end. And truly, if we honestly do our best to imitate Christ and follow in His paths in life, our life here on earth will end up being richer, too.

Which brings us back to material things, and I may get a little off subject here. God promised to feed and clothe us; He never promised a mansion, or 2 extra cars, or money in savings. He promised to meet our NEEDS. I think sometimes we get our needs and wants confused. I heard someone talking about priorities not long ago, and, although he was making a point, the 3 things he mentioned were the car payment, the light bill, and the cable bill. I certainly would not put those three as my top three priorities. The cable bill is obviously way down on my list, since at our house we don't even have the local channels. But my point is, what are your priorities? What do you "know [I] can't live without"? Cable? 2 cars? Electricity and running water? A house with enough bedrooms that no one has to share? What are definite needs, and what are "it is so nice to have"s? There again, if we are seeking after God, the material will become less important to us, and we can be like Paul and learn to be content no matter what state we are in.


Loving Father, Thank you for knowing my needs, both material and spiritual, and for providing for those needs. Please continue to bless me in such a manner that those things that I receive and the things that happen to me in life will always help me on my path to serve and please You, and to be able to help others along the way as well. In Christ's Holy name, Amen.