Have you ever felt the Lord was challenging your priorities, all the way from your idea of what was most important to what you think is least important?

In Matt6:33, when Jesus said “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”, do you think He was pointing out how we should arrange our priorities, challenging what we think is important versus what God says is important? i do.

i’ve read His words, agreed with His words, but often my priorities didn’t change. i can’t tell you about you, but i can speak with some authority concerning myself. There have been times in my life, long periods of time, when sitting down on the couch was more important than wiping the kitchen counter, being silent was more important than calling a friend in need, reading a magazine was more important than reading my Bible, and, i’m sad to admit, many times doing absolutely nothing was more important than talking to God. i ask myself, “Why is that so? It is ugly Lord and it must change.”

Sometimes even listening to music which i wasn’t really interested in had a higher priority than speaking to the Lord in prayer. For many of us, it’s a higher priority to discuss and point out how “they” – the infamous “they” got their doctrine wrong. It is more important to point out their wrongness than it is to be honest about where we are in God’s process of making us mature and whole. When someone is too honest and transparent, many people just run away, because it has suddenly become a greater priority to check our phone messages, or go get a cup of coffee, or cross talk others while avoiding the topic at hand. i used to eat lunch with a fellow who said he really enjoyed my company, but yet the last time we sat down, in the following hour, he checked his phone 17 times. i wondered what his priorities were.

Using the phrase, “to test” in scripture is meant in the sense of finding out what something or someone is made of, but in the case of the Pharisee’s and lawyers of the N.T., when they “tested” Jesus it was meant to trip Him up. Their priorities were to cast shadows of doubt on the person of Christ, or anyone who would challenge them or disagree, rather than knowing the Heart of the Father more completely because the Son of God was standing right in front of them. In Matt22:35-40, Jesus was asked a question by a man who’s focus in life was the law and legalities, a lawyer, but the man was asking a question, not because he wanted to truly know the answer, but for the purpose, in a hostile sense, of causing Jesus to strive. He asked “what is the greatest commandment?”, but the answer Jesus gave represented a challenge to the priorities of all who listened, even all who would read even to this day. He said, “love the Lord your God with all your breathing, thinking, and feeling, And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Lord allows situations of significance to happen in our lives that help remind us of where our priorities should be. Someone dear to us dies, or gets ill and suddenly we all re-focus. Life is just grand until a tragedy strikes, then every stands around talking about Heaven and the significance of being right with God. The Lord wants us to be involved Him, long before we come to the end of things. To be “right with God” doesn’t mean just ask Jesus into your heart, dust your hands off and go back to what you were doing. It means to be honest and transparent, knowing the Lord as intimately as possible with the greatest relationship possible. Getting “right with God” isn’t a one time event but a life long process, and we should question our priorities. We love to say, God is first, but yet our choosings and actions tell a very different story. The Lord is all about relationships, we say we are too, but yet we spend virtually no time building relationships, other than a surface response. Maybe getting down to what really motivates us is scary, and i’ll be the first to admit it can be terrifying, but let’s ask ourselves, what’s more important, maintaining our facade of well being, or actually living in the full wellness and wholeness which Jesus died and rose from the dead to give us?

In Matt18:1-2 Jesus was asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Notice, Jesus didn’t pass to those nearby, His ministry name and title as was printed on His business card, He didn’t imply to them His personal greatness by suggesting they go buy one of His many books, He didn’t go down the list of His qualifications, nor did He suggest that they take one of His very informative online courses on “How to succeed in ministry”. He called a child over and said, trust God as a child trusts a parent, be humble like a child, and receive other children like a child. He was challenging their priorities, and i think it was a very uncomfortable moment for those among them who typically were inclined to promote themselves, their ministry, and their own agenda.

To some, what is most important to them is their own well being, worrying if they are going to be ok, have a nice house, drive an attractive car, get affirming recognition at church, and receive warm accolades at work. That is their priority. In Matt6:19, again Jesus challenged their priorities in saying, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal”. In Luke12:34, Jesus said again, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” i say, if you can’t find your heart, find your treasure… because i guarantee your heart is laying around there somewhere.

Let us have the courage to test our priorities. Take note of what your inclinations are and then be brave to explore “Why”. If we stop at the “What” of our lives, and never get around to the “why”, we’ll never get to our true face where God shines His face in us most brightly.