When someone says, “I’m concerned…,” we usually perk up and listen. It signifies that whatever is spoken next is deeply personal and pertinent in the moment.
You can tell a lot about a person by what they are concerned with at any given moment in life. When we are concerned about something, it means we’re giving it a lot of mental focus. It occupies first position and priority in our thoughts.
Jesus said, on the subject of worry, not to concern ourselves with the details of the physical, temporal world. It isn’t that those things aren’t important. It’s that God has something else he’d rather be first in priority in our thoughts.
Jesus put it this way:
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
~ Matthew 6:33 NKJV
To seek is to desire something, to search for it, to ask for it. We’re to seek the kingdom first – to desire it, before any other competing priority.
We often want to know more of God’s will than we need to know at a given moment. What does God want me to do? How is this going to play out? What’s the next thing that will happen as I walk this pathway?
But Jesus challenges us to think differently. Rather than desiring to know how everything is going to work out along the way, we’re to put at the very front of our minds the kingship of Jesus and allow everything else to flow out of that.
I used to believe I should have a hierarchy of priorities. I would usually say that God should come first, then family, then church, then work, etc.
The problem is, God isn’t in line with everything else in my life – even at the front of the line. It isn’t that God outranks my other priorities.
The agenda King Jesus has for my life IS the priority.
And every relationship in my life, every assignment I’m given, every situation I encounter is to be dealt with under the umbrella of Jesus’ kingly authority.
In other words, if you want to make sure you’re seeking the kingdom first, approach every decision you make with this kind of thinking…
In light of the fact that Jesus is King, I should …
You’ll be amazed at how simplified decision-making becomes when it’s all about pleasing and honoring King Jesus. And you’ll also be amazed at how much less you have to worry about.
