Setting our Priorities Straight
Take a moment to write down three things that you consider your topmost priorities in your life. Also write down the number of hours you spend on any given day on these activities that are mentioned – time spent on eating, sleeping, studying, working, with family, friends, social media, recreation, exercise, television, prayer, bible reading, at fellowship or church meetings etc. Now compare the second list with what you mentioned as top priorities, and you will be able to assess what your real priorities are.
We will look at the lives of some people from the bible to understand what their priorities in various situations were. By so doing, we will be able to learn some valuable lessons and thereby set our life’s priorities in order as well.
Abraham and Lot (Read Genesis 13:1-11)
• Relationships over Possessions
When God called Abram out of the land of Ur, Abram left everything behind, obeyed and followed after God, though he had no idea as to what was in store for him. Abram’s nephew Lot decided to go along with his uncle, and the outcome was that both Abram and Lot were blessed by God abundantly. However, at one point when both their livestock became numerous, there was a conflict that arose between the herdsmen of Lot and the herdsmen of Abram, as there was not enough room for them to graze their cattle. This was how Abram sorted this conflict with this nephew Lot.
We read in Genesis 13: 8-9, Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” (ESV)
Abram realized that strife between brothers was not a good thing and he clearly valued his relationship with Lot as far more important than lands and property. In his wisdom Abram realized that the time had come for them to part ways in order to maintain peace. Interestingly, Abram was the older person, the one who had been chosen and called by God to inherit the promise, but he willingly gave up his rights and allowed Lot to choose first.
Lot chose the plains of the Jordan based on what his physical eyes saw - the land was fertile and flourishing. What Lot did not foresee was that the land towards which he was moving was the land of Sodom that was filled with wickedness, and that God would soon destroy it. However, when Lot parted, the Lord re-assured Abram that everything he beheld to the north, south, east and west would be His, and will pass on to his descendants. The Lord took note of Abram for his willingness to give up his rights, and the outcome was bountiful blessings that Abram could not contain.
It is good for us to examine ourselves and see if we too prioritize relationships over material possessions and property. There are so many families divided, and cases pending in court, simply because someone was not willing to give up. When we prioritize relationships God will certainly bless us. May we always remember that possessions are good, but God had blessed us so that we could be a blessing to others. If ever there is a conflict of choice between possessions and relationships, let us remember that relationships should take preference.
Esau and Jacob (Read Genesis 25:27-34)
• Spiritual blessings over Fleshly Appetites
The sons of Isaac and Rebecca were twins, but both of them were so different in every way. They not only differed in looks, but also had different temperaments. Esau was a hunter a man of the wild, whereas Jacob was the homely kind who spent most of his time in tents.
We read in Genesis 25:29-34, “Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom. Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” (ESV)
Esau returned back home after one of his hunting sprees to find that his brother Jacob was cooking some delicious stew. Famished and hungry, Esau requested his brother to give him some bread and lentil stew that he was cooking. Jacob took advantage of the situation and bargained with Esau to part with his birthright. The birthright for the eldest son in the family was an honor, and had numerous blessings attached to it. However, in that moment of hunger, Esau valued food over his birthright, and he sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob. When Esau despised his birthright, and did not value it as he should, the consequence was that he eventually even lost the blessings that were due him from his father Isaac.
This is how the word of God describes this act of Esau as found in Hebrews 12:16-17, “that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” (ESV)
Esau was so taken up with his fleshly appetites that he dishonored and lost a valuable blessing that was rightfully his. Once Esau made such a decision, no matter how hard he tried, he just could not inherit the blessings that he had spurned.
There are three kinds of sinful appetities that are mentioned in 1 John 2:16, “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (NIV)
If we don’t overcome these fleshly appetites we will surely be overcome by them. Once we get entangled with these enticements, we will certainly miss out on all the spiritual blessings that God has in store for us, and will have to live in regret. May we never allow the temporal pleasures of this world to rob us of the eternal spiritual blessings.
Ruth and Orpah (Read – Ruth 1:13-18)
• God over Family
Famine had forced Naomi and her husband along with their two sons to move to the land of Moab. Over the years Naomi became a widow, and also later lost her two sons both of whom had married Moabite women. Naomi was now left with her two daughters in law, Ruth and Orpah. When Naomi heard that her hometown of Bethlehem was blessed again, she decided to move back. Naomi decided that it would be best for both her daughters in law, who were young, to go back to their families and to start a new life. She encouraged both Ruth and Orpah to leave, but this was the response that Naomi received. In Ruth 1:14, we read, “And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.” (ESV)
Orpah after much hesitation decided to leave but Ruth would not part from her mother in law. This was Ruth’s response as found in Ruth 1:16-17, “But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (ESV)
Ruth chose to leave her family behind, the gods that they worshipped in Moab, and went with Naomi to follow after the living God. The outcome was that Ruth was blessed with a new family and had the joy of becoming the great grandmother of King David.
We read in Matthew 1:5-6, “Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse. 6 Jesse fathered David the king.”
God honored Ruth and she is one of the few women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.
Today, there are many people who believe in Jesus, but are not willing to openly declare their faith in him because they fear that they will be ostracized by their families. Sometimes, family ties are so strong, that when there is a conflict between choosing God and choosing family, sadly many opt to let go of God.
There were multitudes who followed after Jesus while He was here on earth, and this was Jesus’ words to them as found in Matthew 10:37, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (ESV) Following Jesus has worth not only for this life but for the lift to come, so may we always prioritize God over our family.
Mary and Martha (Read Luke 10:38-42)
• Spending time with God over Serving God
There is an incident recorded in Luke 10 about a family that Jesus visited. It was the home of Martha and Mary, and this was what happened there.
We read in Luke 10:38-42, “Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (ESV)
Martha was doing a good thing in that she was entertaining Jesus, and wanted the hospitality given to him to be the best. Mary, on the other hand chose to just sit and listen to all that Jesus shared. We might have expected Jesus to commend Martha and to reprimand Mary for not being of help to her sister, but contrarily Jesus applauded Mary’s choice as “the good portion, which will never be taken away from her.”
We live in a hectic world, and sometimes even in ministry we are more caught up in doing things for the Lord instead of waiting on the Lord. It takes tremendous discipline for us to spend time in prayer, reading, meditating on the word of God and listening to Him speak to us. The same can be true in all earthly relationships too where we can replace being with someone with doing things for them. Both are important, but in God’s perspective our priority should be spending time with God, and all other activities must spring from our relationship with Him.
There is a warning about this mentioned in Matthew 7:22, “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (ESV) The problem here was that these were those who were doing many things in the name of the Lord but in reality they did not have a relationship with Him.
Mary and Judas Iscariot (Read John 12:1-8)
• Gratitude over Greed
The background to this passage is that after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, his sisters Martha and Mary along with Lazarus arranged for a celebration meal with Jesus and His disciples. As Martha got busy with the preparations, Mary was so filled with love and gratitude for the Lord that she did something astounding.
We read about this in John 12:3, Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (ESV)
This perfume that Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with, was worth a fortune and at this point of time Mary did not care about the value of it, as she valued Jesus far more than this expensive ointment, and regarded Him worthy to receive it from her hands.
On the other hand this was the response of Judas Iscariot, the disciple of Jesus as found in John 12:4-8, “But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” (ESV)
As Judas made a mental calculation of the cost of this ointment, he was agitated. Judas had his heart on the money, and the Lord also knew that he used to steal from the moneybag of which he was in-charge. While Mary’s heart was filled with gratitude, Judas’ heart was filled with greed. We know that what happened to Judas in the end was truly pathetic, when he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, and ultimately ended his own life.
We live in a world that allures us to have more and more. Covetousness will remove thankfulness from our heart and will leave us with a sense of discontent. Let us count the numerous blessings God has showered on us, and as Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:6 let us remember that “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” We must always bear in mind that we brought nothing into this world, and we will take nothing out of it. Therefore, may we live our lives filled with gratitude to God for all His blessings on us.
The priorities Jesus had
The life of Jesus is the best example as to the kind of priorities we must have in our lives.
• All through his life Jesus valued people. He was the Son of God who had no place to rest his head. Jesus’ entire life was involved with people as He taught, related and performed miracles and wonders among them.
• When tempted by Satan in Matthew 4, we see that Jesus overcame all of His fleshly desires by standing firm on the word of God
• It was God and His will over family for Jesus all the time. Remember the time when some people tried to tell Jesus that his mother and brothers were outside and this was Jesus’ reply in Matthew 12:50, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (ESV) Jesus redefined family as those who do the will of God.
• Though no one could serve like Jesus, we know that He spent hours, and whole night praying and communing with His Father in Heaven.
• Jesus lived a life of total sacrifice and one that was filled with gratitude.
What are the world’s priorities?
The common priorities in the world today are popularity, power, position, education, career, lands and houses, possessions, gold, recreation, friends, pleasures, food, clothes and accessories so on and so forth. If we observe our own lives we will be able to identify what are the top priorities in our lives. They would be those things that we spend all our time, money and effort in.
How it works..
• Desires lead to Priorities
• Priorities lead to choices
• Our choices have consequences
It all begins with the heart and our desires will determine our priorities. These priorities will motivate us to make choices based on them. If our priorities are good and godly the outcome will be beneficial to us and others. However, if these priorities are wrong, we will make wrong choices and end up with regret.
How to set our priorities straight
Here are some points that will help us set our priorities in order
1. Love God above all else
In Luke Chapter 10:26-28, “He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (ESV) When we give God top priority and love Him above all else there is no way our priorities can get mixed up for He will set everything in order.
2. Love others and be a blessing to others
The second part of this command is as important as the first. If we do not love those around us as God wants us to, we will become self-centered and will not be able to keep our priorities in check.
3. Seek God’s Kingdom First
Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (ESV) Instead of seeking after worldly things when we seek God and prioritize His kingdom then everything else that we need will be added to us as well.
4. Lay-up treasures in heaven not earth
In Matthew 6:19-21 we are taught to lay up treasures in heaven instead of on earth. When laying up treasures in heaven is our priority we will surely use all of our worldly wealth to invest in things pertaining to the extension of God’s kingdom, and will surely be a blessing to others who are in need.
5. Invest in building your relationship with God
Building our relationship with God is not automatic. The more we spend time in prayer, reading and meditating on God’s word, practice it, share it with others and stay in fellowship with other believers, we will remain focused, and on the right track.
6. Seek to do God’s will
As children of God our desire should be to do the will of God. The word of God reminds us in 1 John 2:17, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (ESV)
7. Do everything for God’s glory
Finally everything we do should be done only for God’s glory with no agenda to promote ourselves, or for our personal gain. Paul reminds us in Colossians 3:22-23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (ESV)
May the Lord Jesus help us to set right all of our priorities, and give Him the topmost priority in every area of our lives. When we do so our lives will be blessed and will surely be a light and a blessing to those around us.
