Matthew 6: 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
One of the difficulties we often face as Christians is to manage our priorities in the right order. There is an ongoing effort by unseen forces to disrupt, derail or dismantle the most important items that we will need, in order for us to live victoriously. And sadly, it is too often the case that they are successful in so doing.
Must dos are the things that need to be done on a regular, daily basis. These range in importance and prioritization from having breakfast, doing laundry, doing dishes, cleaning the house, taking the kids to school to the more, weightier matters that pertain to eternity, such as seeking The Lord, the study of His word and His character, and prayer, which is the breath of the soul.
Thus, from day to day, most persons find ourselves having to juggle these must dos in a manner that is efficient, but doing so often becomes a challenge in many instances. One of the reasons for the ongoing difficulty of prioritization is that there is a limited amount of time available to us each day.
Therefore, the bottom line is that there is only so much that we can get done in any given day, and it often seems that we could use a few more hours each day. Yet, the reality is that persons only have twenty-four hours to do, that which needs to be done, and as such, we must stack our must dos in order of priority.
One thing we should always bear in mind however, is that the temporal pursuits of life are never more important than the spiritual concerns, and for this reason, if we find ourselves running short on time in any given day, we’ll have to scratch off some items from our list of must dos.
Therefore, we must be very careful not to scrub the spiritual in favor of the temporal for doing so would not only cause our priorities to become inverted, it will also put us at risk of succumbing to temptation, which is what our unseen foes desire most of all.
Our jobs, and the work that we do are important, but they are not more important than seeking God’s face. Our studies, in procuring a bachelors, masters, or doctorate are important, but again, they are not more important than the time spent in the audience chamber of the Most-High.
In fact, one of the most common temptations that’ll come our way is to try to make us believe that folks can scrub the spiritual for a while, to get temporal our matters in order, and then resume the spiritual aspects of life when it is convenient to do so.
This is a very grave mistake, for, if and when we succumb to such temptations, God is then put into second or third place on our list of priorities, and thus, we can make serious mistakes, and errors in judgement or decision making.
The belief that there is little danger in persons being disconnected from God for a short season, in order to fulfill some temporal, social or some educational pursuit, is a very dangerous mode of thought, for it is a fact in the spirit world, that any disconnection from Christ, the source of our power will expose our vulnerabilities in ways that we may regret later on.
Therefore, several examples are given in the Bible, so that we may have our must-dos in the correct order of priority at all times. It is an area of life that is to carefully monitored, lest we be disconnected and know it not. Let’s read:
Matthew 12: 46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
At this time when His family came for a visit, Jesus was in the middle of a major sermon, and thus, He would have to either scrub the sermon, in favor of His family, or vice versa. His example leaves us no doubt as to which of the two was more important in the greater scheme of things.
When God calls on us to serve, we too may face the grim prospect of having to choose between family, and the work God has given us to do. Especially, if a message of import is to be brought before persons, various circumstances, which seem to demand our immediate attention may arise, and like Jesus, we might have to choose between a sermon, and our family.
It all has to do with must dos, in order of priority, for there is no doubt, Jesus’s mother and His family were absolutely important to Him. The questions is: In this current situation, when souls of men were on the line, was the visit with family more important?
What is worthy of note is the timing of the visit, for it occurs exactly at the point in His sermon when He was pulling back the curtain to reveal to the people sacred truth pertaining to the devices of devils, and what takes place with possession, as it pertains to the souls of men.
Thus, we are left to wonder if the timing was a mere coincidence, or whether it could’ve been surgically orchestrated by unseen agencies to try and disrupt, dismantle, distract, or divert the attention of Jesus from those weightier matters that pertain to eternal life. The context gives us a clue. Let’s read:
Matthew 12: 43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished.
45 Then he goes, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Another “must do” that has to be placed in order of priority is sleep. Restful sleep is essential, because our bodies need sleep to recover. In fact, it is one of the pillars of our health message, which folks have espoused over the years, and beyond the shadow of a doubt, sleep has been scientifically, and clinically proven to be a bedrock essential to health.
But there are times when even sleep would need to be displaced from its position in our priorities, so as to wrestle with God on some grave, important issue that needs resolution. There are times when a cloud of temptation looms large on the horizon, and folks may need to scratch off sleep for a while, so that we can be strengthened to gain the victory.
At such times, sleep remains important, but not as important as seeking God’s face and thus, whenever the situation may warrant it prayer and supplication are more important than sleep.
Whenever we are in a situation, where we are very tired but we might be facing some grave trial which we need to pray about, we should then ask God to strengthen us to fend off the drowsiness that would keep us nodding off.
God often responds to such a prayer for strength by infusing His servants with a boost of supernatural power, so that the priority, or temptation at hand can be adequately addressed. But for persons to try in their own strength to fend off sleep, especially if they are extremely tired, is a recipe for failure.
In the garden of Gethsemane, as Christ was fending off the hosts of darkness, which had come in for His jugular He found it necessary to table sleep from His priorities, to address the more urgent situation as it unfolded. Normally, He would not ask His disciples to surrender their zees, at night, but on this special occasion, prayer was far more important than sleep.
So, what are the disciples to do in this situation? It is true that some of them were fishermen and some like Dr. Luke, being a physician would be tired from their day’s work. So now, with their eyes heavy, and with some dozing off uncontrollably, what becomes more important? Sleep or prayer? Let’s read:
Matthew 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
40 And he cometh unto the disciples and finds them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
[The Desire of Ages pp 713] It was in sleeping when Jesus bade him watch and pray that Peter had prepared the way for his great sin. All of the disciples, by sleeping in that critical hour, sustained a great loss.
Christ knew the fiery ordeal through which they were to pass. He knew how Satan would work to paralyze their senses that they might be unready for the trial. Therefore, it was that He gave them warning.
Had those hours in the garden been spent in watching and prayer, Peter would not have been left to depend upon his own feeble strength. He would not have denied his Lord.
Again, there are times when even the work that is given us by God, must be placed in proper order of priority, especially when important decisions are to be made. When God gives to His servants a specific instruction to do such and such, the command does not mean that prayer becomes less important.
In fact, prayer at such times becomes all the more important, lest persons run ahead of God, without His presence and power to guide. When the great commission was given us by Christ, it was never His intent that evangelism is to supersede prayer, as if it is more important.
Prayer before missionary work is what will open the way for God to show folks the ways and means, the methods and approaches that should be used in this or that situation, since the preaching of the gospel is not monolithic in nature.
Sermons that may be effective in western cultures, might not be well received in some middle eastern countries, and evangelism in the Caribbean might not go down well in certain parts of Africa. Thus, even though we are all commanded to preach and teach all nations, we must of necessity seek God’s face to do so effectively.
Again, there was a time when God told Joshua that He would be given victory over the cities and people of Canaan. That then, did not mean that prayer was less important than the work that was to be done in Canaan.
In the proper order of priority, prayer is even more essential than the actual battles to be fought, for it is through prayer that God would have shown the unforeseen pitfalls and dangers that awaited Israel, and God would have alerted Joshua to what took place secretly with Achan, so that Joshua would not have make such a grave error in judgement, as he did. Let’s read:
Joshua 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.
2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east of Bethel, and spoke unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
3 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labor thither; for they are but few.
4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 493] The great victory that God had gained for them had made the Israelites self-confident. Because He had promised them the land of Canaan they felt secure, and failed to realize that divine help alone could give them success. Even Joshua laid his plans for the conquest of Ai without seeking counsel from God.
Again, in the proper order of priority, food is quite important, but when compared with the spiritual aspect of man’s being, it is not more important. As Jesus was led up into the wilderness to be tempted, He knew that the weight of the world rested on His shoulders, and thus, if He should fail here, the plan of salvation would be lost.
Thus, just like it was in the garden of Gethsemane with sleep, His hunger and thirst would need to be foregone for the moment, so that victory over the forces of darkness could take the top spot in His order of priority. Let’s read:
Matthew 4: Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
In other words, if food and drink will interfere with Christ gaining the victory, at that point they become less important than the former. Again, when Jesus met the woman at the well, He was very hungry and He was in fact waiting for food that the disciples went to procure.
But, lo and behold, as the salvation of this one soul loomed large on the horizon, food and hunger are tossed out the window, in favor of the weightier, and more important matter at hand.
This shift in His priority, on the spur of the moment, teaches us that Christ always held the spiritual, and eternal interests of God’s kingdom, to be infinitely more important than food. Let’s read:
John 4: 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy food.)
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
31 In the mean while his disciples asked him, saying, Master, eat.
32 But he said unto them, I have food to eat that ye know not of.
33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?
34 Jesus saith unto them, My food is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
This particular point, of holding the interests of the kingdom of God in preeminence would be especially important for those of us who might live to see the final conflict of the ages, as it would unfold across the globe, because, at that time, millions of persons will be converted under the latter rain, as promised in the scriptures.
Therefore, if one’s necessary food takes precedence over soul winning, God would have to bring some of us down to the water to test us, as He once did in the days of Gideon. Food is important, but it is not that important to scrub evangelism in favor of some food.
When the mark of the beast will take the world by storm, persons would have to decide which is more important; our three, square meals or obeying all of the commandments of God at a time when it will be extremely difficult to do so.
The bread, and water that is promised in the book of Isaiah, should not be expected up front, without a fight, for all of the stops will then be pulled out to determine who is who, and whether or not persons will buckle under the tremendous pressure that will be exerted against our need for food and drink.
As Christ battled on in the wilderness, He became pale and emaciated, for when the body has entirely exhausted available nutrients, it begins to feed on itself, beginning with fat, and ending with muscle.
Thus, for forty days and nights, His priority remains our salvation, and if it would cause Him to lose all His weight and become utterly dehydrated in the process, then, so let it be, as far as Jesus Christ was concerned.
In the final conflict with the powers of darkness, the remnant will see all earthly support cut off, and the food that we now take for granted, will become out of reach, if we are to remain faithful during the last days.
Like as it was with Jesus, the first few days of the “Mark” may not be that terrible, but if it wears on for several days, weeks, or even months, persons might begin to sing a different tune.
The severity of the conflict is portrayed in scripture so that none may be deluded into thinking that the refusal of the mark of the beast will be a breeze. It will absolutely not be a breeze by any stretch of the imagination, and thus, our food and drink should be placed in the right order of priority, even now. Let’s read:
Job 23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Jeremiah 30: 5 For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
[The Great Controversy pp 621] The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger, a faith that will not faint, though severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time.
In the current forty days of prayer that we are doing there will be times when we should be praying, but we will feel very sleepy, just as the disciples felt that overpowering drowsiness in the garden with Christ. At such times we should persevere in prayer, asking God to restrain the forces of darkness, so that our senses would not be paralyzed.
Again, there will be times during the ongoing forty days of prayer, when severe pangs of hunger might prompt us to rearrange our order of priorities, and thus place food over faith. At such times, we would do well to remember Christ in the wilderness, as He determined that the issues of eternal moment are of greater value and importance than His necessary food.
When God tested the soldiers who had volunteered in Gideon’s army the simple test revealed that most of them had their priorities inverted, for there were only three hundred left standing after all was said and done.
Their lackadaisical attitude manifested, in stooping down to drink water, at the time when they should have been on full alert, revealed that they could not be trusted in an emergency, for they would put the valid, temporal concerns of life above the work of God.
Therefore, as we study the history of those who have gone before, and as we too review our lists of priorities, let us make certain, by the grace of God, to put spiritual things first. The relationship with the God of heaven, and the power, and foreknowledge, wisdom, strength and guidance Christ brings to the table, are of more value than the temporal pursuits of life.
Christians should not allow circumstances to dictate their order of priorities, for whenever this floodgate is opened it sets up a precedent that becomes much easier to succumb to the second and third time. For instance, choosing the gym, work, or secular study, instead of our special time with God, will make it so much easier to repeat the same inversion again and again.
And if for any reason we may run into a jam, where one priority has to be scrubbed in favor of another, never let it be said that we preferred the temporal over the spiritual because whenever this is done the order of priority becomes inverted, and folks could suffer great loss as a result.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture that will help us to tow the line with a steady and even tread, because keeping things in their correct order of priority is an ongoing battle that must be fought and won by the grace of God. Let’s read:
Matthew 6: 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 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?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
God Bless!