Priority means simply this: What comes first in your life. Any list of things can be put in order of priority. Here is an example. Suppose we had a list of things to do today. The list may look something like this:

-Go to work
-Wash the car
-Watch TV
-Feed the dog

You get the idea. Now, when you have a list of things like this, the first thing you do is put them in order of importance. Watching TV is not very important at all so it would go last. Work is very important so we will leave it at the top. Feeding the dog is probably more important than the car being washed so we will put it second. So, you see how we deal with priorities every day.

Now, let us look at what God says about priorities:
Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” This simply states that everything has a time when it should be done. Just like you wouldn´t be sad at a wedding or happy at someones funeral, you shouldn´t do unimportant things first and important things last. The world tries to twist everything up. The devil confuses people and they start doing things out of order. Let us look at some things in the Christian life that we need to put in order. Set up priorities as you serve the Lord.

First of all, I want us to consider the priority of time. Our time is very important and yet so often, we waste it doing unimportant things. The television, for example, has robbed many many hours of our time in life. There is nothing wrong with watching clean programs on TV as long as the important things are done first. In our world today we split up our time between work, family, entertainment, school, hobbies, church, and other things. The sad thing is, that many people are dedicating the most time to the most un-important things! What does the Bible say should come first in our lives?

Do we even consider this? Most of the time we do not. When we study the Bible, we find out that God wants to be first in every part of our lives. Acts 20:7 says “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” This is why we have church on Sunday. We want to give the Lord the first day of the week to worship and serve him! Many people go to the beach, go fishing, or just play all day Sunday. What a shame! They do not have their priorities in order! Matthew 6:33 tells us to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Where we seek fun, God wants us to seek Him. When we seek enjoyment and worldly pleasures, God wants us to seek Him first. How sad God must be when we do not. God should get our time first. Next, we should give time to our family. God created the family in the beginning with Adam and Eve. He desires the family to love and care for one another. Once we have given our time to God and the family, then we can think of our selves. Someone once said that real joy is putting Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last! J.O.Y. Always remember that #1. Jesus #2. Others #3. Yourself.

God not only wants the first of your time, but also of your possessions. Proverbs 3:9 instructs us to “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:” There are many other verses in the Bible that tells us to give first to God and then spend the rest as we need to. God promises that if we obey him and give to his work first, he will bless us and take care of our needs. The Bible calls the first part that should be given to God a tithe. That means a tenth or 10%. If you make a thousand dollars, God should get a hundred dollars before you spend anything! That is God´s desire. God wants to be first in your life.

There are many other things in our life that we should put in order. Our love, for example. Our first love should go to God. Any talent or gift we have should go to God! If you are an artist, find out how God can use your gift. If you are a carpenter, a writer, or have some other ability. Give it to the Lord. If we think about it, didn´t he give his best for us? He sent his Son to die for our sins. He put us first. It would be wrong and selfish to do any less for Him!

Ron Pittman