Seek First
The other day I sat in the library for hours attempting to do my finance homework, working through problems and reworking them, submitting answers only to see “incorrect” appear on the screen. After about the fiftieth time seeing that, I just about lost it. I was so frustrated and couldn’t seem to figure out what I was doing wrong.
I think that’s a lot like college in general—we work so hard and exhaust ourselves, we try to do everything we have to do, we fill up our already busy schedules, but at the end of the day we don’t have much to show for it.
Part of it’s due to the fact that college is just a busy season of life. There’s so much on our plates, and we work so hard because we know one day our work will be rewarded. We may not have much to show for it now, but one day we will.
There’s not much we can do about the things we have to do, but it does matter how we do them and the order of importance we let these things have in our lives.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
You see, God doesn’t just want to be on your list, He wants to be first. He doesn’t just want to be part of your life, He wants to be your life, your everything.
Every morning that I choose to spend time with Him instead of diving head-first into all the things I have to do, I’m planting spiritual seeds that will reap a harvest greater than I could ever imagine. It may not seem important, but it’s the most important. It’s showing Him “Lord, above it all, You are my priority, You are the sustainer of my life, and without You, the rest of this wouldn’t even matter.”
It’s seeking first His kingdom, knowing that eternity is where my treasure is.
But, amazingly, through God’s purposeful design, seeking Him first has a way of making everything else come together. It relies on His power above our own, and, let me just say, He’s a lot stronger than we are. By relying on Him, we tap into not only His strength, but His vision, His wisdom, His joy, His peace, and His guidance for our lives. And you’ll find you accomplish more and can handle more than you ever imagined with His infinite resources rather than your very limited strength.
Seek first His kingdom and then “all these things” will fall into place.
It’s the rule of firsts. The first thing determines everything that follows, and God’s not going to bless the work you put above Him. He will only take first place.
You can gain the whole world doing all you can do, but true life—life to the very full—is found in a heart completely surrendered, in the heart of a son or daughter, an heir to the kingdom, sold out for the purposes of the Great and Mighty King.
“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:6-9
And if you’re curious how my finance homework turned out, I realized that I missed the answer to the first question, which of course made the rest of my calculations wrong. Funny how that works.
