Putting God First
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Matthew 6:31-33
The world is chasing after many things–the pursuit of happiness. Our Heavenly Father knows what we need. However, He says don’t worry about these things but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, which means to live right! His Kingdom is His agenda, plans, purposes, dreams, and His righteousness.
1. Living Right
We all want prosperity and the blessings of God, but we must ensure we are living a righteous lifestyle. An important part of that righteous lifestyle is living with the love for God and His people. All these things are part of that righteousness.
Focus on His Kingdom; that is where we major. Then all these things will be added or given to us, as well. All the things which God knows we need; He will take care of it.
2. God’s Kingdom First
The key point is we love the Lord and His Kingdom FIRST. The moment we put Him first, He will immediately start taking care of our material needs. We will see this as we continue to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness.
As we continue to keep putting Him first, then we will see all these things being added to our lives more and more. Many of us consider prosperity as what we can get out of it. The Kingdom mentality is all about what we can give and not always receiving. This statement can seem quite contradicting. However, our motive should be that we want the blessing of God so we can be a blessing, so we can give back. We get so we can give. We are all called by God to be blessed so we can be a blessing to others.
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
Matthew 16:25
We were trained all our life to hold on to and preserve what is ours. It was all about ‘ME, ME, ME!’ This is a dangerous attitude to be in. Because life is not just always about us. Of course, God will bless us, heal us, deliver us, and set us free. He loved us and sent His son to die for us but in the end it’s not always about us, it’s about God using us to help others.
This is why Jesus said whoever will save his life shall lose it. This is a message that this generation needs to hear clearly. We must lose our lives and give our lives to the Kingdom of God.
3. A Devoted Heart
“You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord’s people. I urge you, brothers and sisters,”
1 Corinthians 16:15
Achaia was in Greece, and they were pagans, not believers. When they were converted, they were on fire for God. They branded themselves new Christians who were the first of the harvest. Their next response was they would spend their lives devoted in service to God’s people. God is urging us in this scripture to do the same!
We were redeemed from the curse of the law and entered into the Kingdom of God through His glorious grace. Our response should be to spend our lives devoted in service to God’s people. Our desire should be to mend the broken hearts of people and removing pain. This is the good message of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
If Christianity does not have a burden for the lost, it will become a form of religion. There is nothing wrong with a self-help teaching because we all need a place to go to get better. But we also need a place to overcome fear, insecurity, anxiety, addictions, etc. At the end of the day, all our transformation and help we receive from God should equate to us spending our lives in service to God’s people, spending our lives saving souls and making disciples.
Final Thoughts
We don’t start living our lives until we die to ourselves.
Let us learn to be givers in every aspect of our lives.
Make a decision today to devote yourself to the service of God’s people and watch your life transform from one level to the next.
