The Cost of Misplaced Priorities

After Jesus told us in Matthew 6:19, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," and after Jesus had told us in Matthew 19:25, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on it;" then, in Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." All those material things of life that everyone seems to worry so much about will be Jesus' concern, if we "seek first....His righteousness." This is all about priorities. Yet, we constantly keep seeking all those things as our highest priority, and we put God on the back burner reserved for when we have more time and we have built our nest egg. That was the example of Israel when Haggai wrote to them.

Except things never satisfy. There is never enough of them. A person will never reach the point of satisfaction. God will see to that. Because if we seek things first over God, God will let us acquire the things, but He will see to it that we are never satisfied. There will always be an empty gnawing in our souls. So we take on extra jobs and work all the overtime we can get to get ahead, but it seems like we are on a treadmill not getting anywhere no matter how fast we run. It is like climbing up the stairs on the down escalator. Don't stop running or you will lose all the ground you've gained. It's like the old Pennsylvania Dutch expression, "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." That's life apart from God, and it is exactly the way God intended.

And of course, the radio, and the TV, and the billboards are always there to make sure we know about all the things we are still missing out on - all the things that the Jones' have that I don't. You know, I might be a little more satisfied with my home, or car, or deck, or yard, or whatever, if I didn't keep hearing about all those new and improved ones out there.

Have you ever looked through all those gorgeous homes and yards featured in Better Homes and Gardens magazine? Nice aren't they? But have you ever asked yourself the question, "Better than whose?" Better than mine, of course! And the message comes through loud and clear. Mine don't measure up. And I am tempted to be dissatisfied with what I have. Don't look so smug. Yours don't measure up either.

So we become people who always need a little more to be content; just a little more in order to really enjoy life. As someone said, "We are people spending money we don't have to buy things we don't need to impress people we don't know." It is a trap! Because, listen to me! the only real contentment we will ever find comes from God. It comes when we, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness," then let God worry about all the rest of the stuff.

The Psalmist found that out, writing in Psalm 107:9, "For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." God alone can do that. Does He satisfy your soul? He can, you know. And He wants to. But your priorities must be right. God must come first.