Make My Mission My Top Priority

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”  – Matthew 6:33. 

Does your smartphone affect your to-do list? Could this marvel of technology redirect my day, causing me to miss God’s best for me? I think so, and here’s why. If you are old enough you remember the house phone, and I do mean singular as in one. There was no call-waiting beep or answering machine. And of course, no email or texting. So if you wanted to reach someone, you had to keep calling until you got through. Or maybe head to their house and knock on their door. So much has changed today.

A typical day starts with checking some sort of communication device to see who might have emailed, posted, or texted. Then, before we begin to handle what’s most important to us, our day begins by responding to what’s most important to others. So rather than being proactive, our days are spent in reactive mode. The question is how attentive are we to the spiritual things of life. We expect that somehow spiritual things will take care of themselves—but do we make a conscious effort to make spiritual matters a top priority in our life?

If so, what is it? In a fast-moving world, what grabs our attention is what is faster, better and brighter. We are accustomed to instant answers and results. We are masters at multi-tasking, trying to get everything done in our own time.

Jesus says in Matthew 6:33 (CEV) in the Bible, “More than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants, then the other things will be yours as well.” God expects us to work and live, while centering our life on Him and His kingdom as we work and live. Now, I’m saying it’s not wrong to go after other things. We do not need to spend all our time or energy in spiritual pursuits. There is a difference between priorities and responsibilities.

What Jesus is teaching us here is to clearly establish priorities in your life. Let your first priority be following Christ. Jesus says, focus your attention and hopes on the things of the Lord. If you are going to be consumed with anything, be consumed with His kingdom. If God’s priorities become our priorities, He will take care of our needs. C.S. Lewis wrote, “ put first things first, and we get second things thrown in. Put second things first, and we lose both first and second things.”

That intuitively makes sense. There are many distractions and demands today, and it can be confusing. But the message of the Bible is clear. Let God into every area of your life, and you will be amazed at how He will guide and help you. Enjoying the best life possible is about who directs your life. That’s because whatever force has first place in your life will drive your decisions and shape your future.

Discussion Questions:

1. Is it possible to have a life on mission? Why or why not?  
2. What can we do this week to eliminate the distractions that may be keeping us from fulfilling our mission?