PRIORITIZING FOR EFFECTIVE LIVING

We are told in the book of Matthew “do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ …your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  In order to “seek His kingdom” we must learn to prioritize the work, purpose and use of our gifts/talents God has given each of us.   By seeking His righteousness we can live an effective life without regret.

Each person must figure out for themselves (with the help of the Holy Spirit) what an effective life looks like in their own life.  I believe every person on Earth is searching for their “effective life” but most do not know what they are searching for or how to find it.  They know they are searching for something, some purpose that will give meaning and fulfillment to their lives, but they cannot identify what it is.  Many seek the answer by pursuing money, power, possessions or pleasure.  Others search for it in science, philosophy or intellectualism, while others turn to alcohol or conscious-altering drugs.  After all, it is extremely difficult to find something when you don’t know what you are looking for.  We as a people have been longing to return to the place we lost in original sin – total communion with God.  Jesus tells us in order to experience that communion again we must “seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”  However, being successful but in the wrong area is a tremendous failure and shows me that every person is seeking something and our divine mandate is to seek the kingdom and God’s righteousness.  To do that we must make seeking the kingdom and righteousness a priority…whatever you prioritize you will pursue.

BENEFITS OF PRIORITIZING

1.      True progress is not measured by how much we get done, but by whether or not we are moving in the right direction.  We may accomplish many good things but if we do those “good things” without love and not focused on God then we will not make any progress toward our true goals – the kingdom and His righteousness.

2.      By prioritizing, our time will be spent doing the right thing at the right time in the right way, which keeps us focused.   This then can protect our life from making wrong decisions.

3.      When we know what is most important and make that a priority it helps us to avoid abusing our time and wasting that precious currency – time.

4.      Correctly prioritizing gives us the confidence to exert energies because we know we are effectively and correctly moving in the right direction for the right purpose.  Our goal shouldn’t be to just be busy but to be righteous.  Our energy and God’s priority are too important for us to wake up one morning and realize everything we have done for the last 1, 5, 10, 20 years was not seeking the kingdom or His righteousness.

5.      Knowing where our priorities lay will help you avoid expending your talents and gifts on unimportant or unworthy endeavors.  Most people today use their gifts and abilities in pursuit of selfish and worldly goals or in gratifying their own desires, these have nothing to do with the kingdom of Heaven.  However, even good and honorable pursuits can become a problem if they distract us from truly seeking the kingdom and righteousness.

6.      Once you know what your priorities are decision-making becomes easy because you understand not only what you should be doing but also what you should NOT be doing.   This gives you confidence to say yes to those things which God has moved you towards and say no to those things, however honorable, that distract you from seeking His righteousness.  Every decision you make will either hinder or help you in fulfilling your purpose and help you live an effective life for God.

As you can see, unless you know the priorities of your life you have no guidelines to help you make the correct choices.  But by setting your heart to God those same priorities will enable you to choose the right course and maximize your life effectiveness.