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TEXT: MATTHEW 6:33
TOPIC: FIRST THINGS FIRST: SETTING AND KEEPING PRIORITIES
Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church of Center Point, Alabama
April 15, 2007 (Message by Dr. James Merritt)
What’s first in your life?
Today I want to talk to you concerning the priorites of life.
So let me ask you again, what’s first in your life?
Our Lord Jesus gave an incredible challenge and then backed it up with an awesome promise to the people of His day.
You’ll find both the challenge and the promise in the 33rd verse of Matthew’s 6th chapter.
/ “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you./
Matthew 6:33
Jesus was speaking to his fellow countrymen, the Jews.
In the first century world of ancienct Judah, the people of Israel found themselves in an all too familiar position.
They were an enslaved people.
Their land had long been occuppied by the powerful Roman Empire.
The Jews were a frustrated and angry people.
They were fearful and fretful.
Many wondered whether they could keep their family fed.
They were afraid of losing their homes or property.
Many even feared for their lives.
They were overtaxed and had little influence over a corrupt government.
(Now remember, I’m talking about 2000 years ago, not today!)
Jesus, in what would become known as His “Sermon on the Mount,” reassured the people that God the Father would provide all their needs if they would do but one thing: Put God First!
But that was 2000 years ago!
What about us today?
Well, we’re much the same.
Our priorities are often confused and out of order.
What do we care about?
Where do we spend our time?
Our money?
These are the questions that help determine our own priorities today.
Food, finances, fitness and fashion are often the same priorities of our lives as they were in Jesus’ day.
Matthew 6:24-28
/24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon./
/25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?26
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?27 “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?28 “So why do you worry about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;/
I think you can summarize what Jesus said here in three words: "first things first."
Now I know that sounds simple, but I want to tell you that if you, beginning today, would consciously, continuously, and consistently put first things first, it would absolutely transform your life.
The formula for how to do just that is found in this tremendous statement from the lips of our Lord.
! I. First Things First Means We Must Set Proper Priorities
1.
Now everything rises and falls right here.
If your priorities are not in order, your life will not be in order.
If your priorities are not right, you won't be right.
/2. /Now you don't have to pray about what your number one priority in life ought to be.
You don't have to think about it.
You don't have to discuss it.
You don't have to look for it.
You just have to do it.
Because Jesus has already told us what our first priority ought to be, "/seek first the kingdom of God." /
3. The word seek means to "actively pursue" or "to go after."
It's in the present tense.
It means continuously.
Every day of your life you ought to seek first the kingdom of God.
4. Now in order to seek the kingdom, you must first seek the King.
Because you cannot have a kingdom without a king.
The first priority of your life ought to be to seek the King of the kingdom.
5. Did you know that the Christian life is more than just accepting the Lord, it is seeking the Lord.
The Lord is not just someone you passively accept.
He is someone you actively seek.
I can tell you something about your relationship to God at this very moment without even knowing you.
I can tell you how much of God you have - you have all of God that you want.
6. God does not have any favorites, but He does have intimates.
James 4:8 says, /"You draw near to God and He will draw near to you." /God has promised in his word/, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart."/
(Jeremiah 29:13)
7.
But it is not enough to seek the Lord.
You must seek Him first.
Jesus said, "seek first the kingdom of God."
First things first means putting the Father first.
There are three words I want you to circle in this passage.
In v.30 circle the word faith.
In v.32 circle the word Father.
In v.33 circle the word first.
You know the Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, /"Without faith it is impossible to please God."/ Do you know what faith is? Faith is putting the Father first.
8.
Let me tell you something.
Jesus does not want a place in your life.
Jesus does not even want prominence in your life.
Jesus wants preeminence in your life.
9. Jesus wants *the first moments of everyday*.
Jesus wants *the first day of every week*.
Jesus wants *the first part of every paycheck*.
He wants to be first.
10.
But not only are we to seek the King, we ought to seek the kingdom.
The kingdom of God ought to be the obsession of your life.
The word kingdom there literally means rule or reign.
A kingdom is a place where a king rules.
To seek the kingdom of God is to seek the rule and the reign of God over your entire life.
11.
Now when you truly seek a king, and you truly seek his kingdom, you are automatically seeking for three things.
First of all, you are seeking for *the glory of the king*.
Every part and parcel of your life, every minute and moment of your time, every ounce and pound of your strength, every muscle and fibre of your body ought to be given for the glory of God.
/"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."/ (I Corinthians 10:31)
12.
But it means also to seek for *the guidance of the king*.
A loyal subject always wants to do whatever the king would have him to do.
There is no higher calling in life than to find out what your King wants done and then to do it.
Every morning of your life you ought to begin by asking the Lord Jesus what Paul asked the Lord Jesus on that Damascus road, when he said, /"Lord, what would you have me to do?"/
13.
But it also means to seek *the government of the king*.
A loyal subject desires to be controlled by the king, to be governed by the king, to be ruled by the king.
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