City Life Starter

I. The Word

Matthew 6:33: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to  you.”

II. Questions

1.What should be our two priorities in life?

2.What does it mean to make these tasks priorities?

3.Why is it important make both tasks priorities, as opposed to just one?

When I was in school, summer vacation lasted forever; today, summer is over in a blink. When I was younger time moved at a glacial speed; today it flies by. It’s a universal phenomenon that time passes faster as we get older. Those who study such things seem to agree that this is only a perception and that we do not actually bend the space-time continuum as we get older, but I don’t think it matters; with respect to time, perception is, as a practical matter, reality.

Another reality for most is that as they get older they get busier. This is particularly true for people who are responsible and successful; the more successful you are the more people entrust to you their problems to solve—in other words, the more responsibility you are given at work, home, church, and in other social organizations. Jesus explained this pattern in the Parable of the Talents.

The bottom line is that as we get older—and we are all getting older—time becomes a diminishing commodity in a zero-sum game. That is why the concept of priority is essential. Priority—the notion that some things are more important than others—is the filter through which we see the options available to us in every moment in a way that makes them manageable.  The important things larger, while the unimportant ones diminish or disappear. Without priorities, we simply become slaves to our impulses as we are swept down the rushing river of time.

Matthew 6:33 has, for many years, been a foundational scripture for me. In this Scripture, in a sentence, Jesus clearly identifies the two pursuits that should be the top priorities for every Christian: 1) the expansion of the kingdom of God on earth; and 2) personal sanctification. Jesus is at the center of both of them, that is, they are Christ-centered, and they are both only successfully carried out if done so Spirit-empowered. Also, there is nothing more socially responsible than leading a person to the Lord and becoming more like Jesus because changed people change the world. In short, these are good priorities.

Jesus’ command about priorities also speaks to balance. That balance is found in the fact that Jesus gave us two priorities. In other words, we are not to focus on one to the exclusion of the other. If Christians focused only on the expansion of the kingdom of God and ignored sanctification, they would be seen as dominion-seeking bullies. If Christians focused only on personal sanctification to the exclusion of the expansion of the kingdom, they would become ineffective Pietists. Jesus makes it clear both are to be a priority to the exclusion of neither.

Kingdom-building and sanctification are not an either/or but a both/and proposition, and keeping them as a priority is the best way to ensure our time here on earth will be productive in the service of King Jesus.