SETTING RIGHT PRIORITIES
by Pastor Jim May
Something that is lacking in the lives of so many Christians today is the inability, or the unwillingness, to set the right priorities for their lives. Most of us act as “Reactionaries” meaning that we simply react to everything that happens; then we do our best to work our way out of the circumstances where we find ourselves. You just don’t see very many “Proactive” Christians. Proactive Christians are those who prepare their hearts and minds ahead of time for the trials that they know are surely coming; and by doing so they learn to set proper priorities in their lives.
How often do we see people who don’t spend time in prayer until God forces them into a corner where they finally realize that their only hope lies in prayer unto God? How often do people take for granted the things of God, until the day comes when all the things they have taken for granted are no longer available?
A movie that was popular a few years ago called “The Cast Away” gave us a good example of what it’s like to take something for granted until it’s not available. The character that found himself a castaway on a small island developed an infected tooth. While he had the opportunity to go to the dentist at home and had neglected, even avoided going, on that island he was all alone. How much would he have given to have a dentist available when the pain of his tooth became unbearable! Sometimes we just simply forget about how much we need someone until they aren’t there anymore!
I believe that Paul had his priorities straight. He knew what the most important things in life were and that’s what his life was always anchored in – that knowledge of who it was that he was serving, and of the will of God in his life.
In Philippians 1:21 Paul said, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." He was saying that while he was alive, his priority was to serve the Lord, so that when he died, his reward for faithfulness would be gained.
What are the priorities in your own life? What’s the most important thing to you right now? These questions can always be answered by looking at where you spend most of your time, and what are you doing with the time that you have? Too many people are seemingly just wasting the precious minutes of life on trivialities that have no eternal consequence except to cause them to miss out on God’s best.
Some folks have their priorities set only upon the necessities of this life while they completely ignore, or neglect, the necessities of preparing for the eternity that is surely coming. How often, during the day, do we actually stop and think about eternity? How much time, each day, do we take to imagine what Heaven will be like, or to picture ourselves walking down those golden avenues. We all talk about going there. We all preach about going there. But, are we really setting the priorities in our lives that will prepare us for the journey?
We all know that mankind has certain priorities and needs that must be met in order to sustain life on the earth such as food, clothing, water, and shelter. It’s not hard for us to set a priority to have those things for without them we will surely die. It’s only after we have taken care of those most important things that we begin to lose sight of what should come next and confusion sets in. All of a sudden we lose our way and our priorities get all out whack and it’s not long until we find ourselves in trouble.
There are some people who really have their priorities all mixed up. Here’s a story about one of them.
There was a woman who bought a parrot to keep her company but returned it the next day. "This bird doesn’t talk," she told the storeowner. "Does he have a mirror in his cage?" he asked. "Parrots love mirrors. They see their reflection and it helps them to start a conversation." The woman bought a mirror and left.
The next day she returned; the bird still wasn’t talking. "Well, how about a ladder? Parrots love ladders. A happy parrot is a talkative parrot." The woman bought a ladder and left. But the next day, she was back. "Maybe the parrot needs a swing. Does your parrot have a swing? No? Well, that’s the problem. Once he starts swinging, he’ll start talking up a storm."
The woman didn’t want to keep buying stuff and had little confidence that the swing would work, but she bought it, took it home, and put in the parrot’s cage, but the parrot just didn’t seem to even notice it.
When she walked into the store the next day, she seemed a bit angry. Something had changed her attitude. “What’s the matter now”, the Storeowner asked. "Well, that parrot you sold me died," she said. The storeowner was shocked. "I’m so sorry. Tell me, did he ever say a word?" he asked. "Yes, right before he died," the woman replied. "In a weak voice, he asked me, ’Awk! Don’t they sell any food at that pet store?"
Have you ever seen Christians who had their priorities mixed up when it comes to the spiritual food that they need? They love all the programs at the church. They don’t miss a chance for a free meal. They don’t miss the special singing or the musical concerts. They don’t miss the activity nights. And they even show up quite often at the workdays. But, you can’t them to a regular service where they can get some real meat from God’s Word! They are trying to fill up on junk food in the church but they never really get any food for their soul and pretty soon their soul is starving to death.
It’s good to have all these other things in the church and to take part in them. There’s nothing wrong with an activity night or a church dinner. I love them too. But, if we never feast upon the Word of God and we don’t take the time to be fed those things that make us strong spiritually, then our priorities need some work. If we are going to be “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”, like Paul taught us in Ephesians 6:10, then we need to make those things that give us spiritual strength a much higher priority than those things that give us physical strength.
Sometimes the burdens that we carry are not prioritized right either. We all have a burden to carry. Jesus told us that we were to take up the cross and follow him. What cross are you bearing for the Lord right now? Do you have a burden for working with Youth, with small Children, with the men of the church, or with the women of the church? Do you have a burden for lost souls, for the elderly, or for the shut-ins? All of those can be some wonderful burdens and we should pray for God to give us a heart for the work of the Kingdom of God. But when the work becomes our priority over our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then not only will the work suffer, but we could find ourselves losing our zeal for the Lord in the process.
The Book of Luke speaks about this in a sense when it says in Luke 9:25, "For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?" What good is a work to do for the Lord, if we don’t know the Lord or His will for our lives? Our priority should be to have a strong relationship with Christ first; then everything else will fall into its proper order.
Having our priorities wrong in this manner kind of reminds me of an inscription that can be found about the American Wild West in a museum in Deadwood, South Dakota. In that museum is an inscription left by a prospector. Here’s what it said, ““I lost my gun. I lost my horse. I am out of food. The Indians are after me. But I’ve got all the gold I can carry!”
What good would the gold do him if the Indians caught up with him, or if he starved to death while walking back to town across hostile territory with no protection? I think his priorities were slightly off track, don’t’ you?
I see that so often in the church. People claim to have the goods but there’s no real Holy Ghost power visible in their lives. They claim to be on their way to heaven, but the road they are traveling is leading in the opposite direction. They claim to know the Word of God, but they don’t know how to rightly divide, or interpret it, so it doesn’t do them much good. They are running through hostile territory in this life with the devil hot on their trail and he already has an ambush laid for them to steal their victory and destroy their soul. We need to make sure that our priorities are right.
Then there are those who really believe that their priorities are right and no one can tell them any different. They are absolutely convinced that they are right and everyone else is wrong. The problem is that they are basing their priorities on the wrong facts. Satan has them blinded to the truth that just about everything in their whole life is more important than being faithful to their work for the Lord.
They fail to realize that so many things are weighing them down, such as the cares of life, the entertainment that provides an escape from reality, the little sins that are so easily justified or covered up, and the bad spirit and terrible attitude that are visible to everyone else, but not to them. There are just so many weights hanging on them that they can’t move any further in Christ and their whole life is spent running in place and never going anywhere in God. Their priorities are found only in what they want to do to feel good for the moment or to allow them to escape to a comfort zone where they can feel important.
Hebrews 12:1-2 says that we are to, “…lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…”
How can we run the race and strive for the prize when we are weighed down with everything else in life but what God says that we need to carry? We don’t want to give up anything that we want to do so that the work of the Lord will get done. We only want to give God our “left overs”. God, I have to play this sport, then I’ll give you the time I have left. God, I have to go to work, then I’ll give you the time I have left. God, I really want to watch this movie, then I’ll pray just before I go to bed. God, I just want to reak this magazine or this novel, after all, it’s all about your Second Coming. I’ll read the Bible later on and compare to see which one is right.
God wants your first fruits, your best times, your best work and not your left-overs. I don’t like left-overs most of the time. I want something fresh and hot, not something a week old out of the cold refrigerator. How about you? Do you like left-overs all the time? Sadly, that’s all that many people ever offer to God and then we wonder why we never see a breakthrough in our lives to real victory in Christ! It’s all a matter of setting the right priorities.
If we don’t set the right priorities in our life we will often find ourselves focusing on the trivialities of life and forgetting to give attention to those things that are really important. We will lose our perspective on where God is really trying to take us.
There’s a story that illustrates what I’m saying. It’s titled, “A Swan And A Crane”.
There is an old legend about a swan and a crane. One day a beautiful swan flew in from the skies above and gently settled down by the banks of the lake. Out in the water just a few yards from the bank, there was a crane that was wading about looking for snails. For a few moments the crane stared at the swan in and wondered. Then, finally, when his curiosity got the best of him, the crane asked, “Where do you come from?”
“I come from heaven!” replied the swan. “And where is heaven?” asked the crane.
“Heaven!” said the swan, “From Heaven! Don’t tell me that you have never heard of heaven?”
The beautiful swan went on to describe the grandeur of the Eternal City. She told of streets of gold, and the gates of pearl and walls made of many beautiful and precious stones; of the river of life, pure as crystal, upon whose banks is the tree whose leaves shall be for the healing of the nations. In eloquent terms the swan did her best to describe the hosts of angels and all of the splendor of living in the other world. But that old crane just kept on digging around in the water and didn’t show the slightest interest in what the Swan was saying.
Finally, after the swan had exhausted her ability to describe the wonders of Heaven, the crane asked: “Are there any snails there?”
“Snails?” asked the swan; “Why would you ask if there were any snails with everything else I’ve mentioned. I can’t say, but I don’t think that you will be eating any snails in Heaven.”
“Then,” said the crane, as it continued its search along the slimy banks of the lake, “you can have your heaven. I just want snails!”
Mr. Crane needed some work done on his priority list! His immediate need for food, in the form of snails, blinded him to the really important thing in life, the dream of Heaven and all the blessing it offered.
Let us not laugh too much at the crane though. I know many a Christian who has that same “here and now” focus. All they can see is what is in front of their nose. They have no vision for the future and no real vision for eternal things of God. They are just too caught up in the needs of the “now” to be concerned with the unseen glories of Heaven and God’s wonderful promises to them.
How many people, young and old alike, to whom God has granted the advantages of a good Christian church home, and a wonderful heritage as a child of God, have turned their back upon God and went searching for snails!
How many men will sacrifice his wife, his family, and everything important to him just to searching for the snails of sin!
How many young ladies have deliberately turned from the love of parents and home to learn too late that all God has blessed them with has been forfeited for the snails of sin!
Where are your priorities right now?
Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
There is the foundation for setting your priorities in their proper order and perspective. Put God first. Seek His will for your life above your own. God must come first. Anything else, placed in a position of priority over seeking and knowing the will of God, and obeying the call of God in your life, is a perversion of the proper priorities in your life and will ultimately lead to spiritual death and defeat.
Set your priorities in order. Seek after the things of God first. Concern yourself with the things of the Spirit that will matter for eternity. Then everything in this life will fall into place right where it needs to be. That’s God’s promise to you.
Will you accept God’s way, and His plan, or will you keep on digging for snails?
