But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
—Matthew 6:33
We get all kinds of advice for success in life. Much of it is good, about setting goals, devising a plan, aiming high, building a team, and persevering. You can walk into any bookstore and find shelf after shelf of man’s best efforts to help man. But it is in God’s Word that we find the actual purpose for living.
And here’s the catch nobody on those shelves will tell you: you can get every external in your life in seeming order and still be left wanting. You can hit the goals, build the team, climb the ladder, and arrive at the top strangely empty. Why? Because operating outside of God’s plan by doing your own thing simply doesn’t work. You cannot discover God’s best for your life if you don’t put Jesus first.
A life of purpose requires two things that go together: that we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and that we make God the ruler within each of us. It’s not enough to admire Jesus or add Him to the team. We have to let Him rule and then watch Him work His power and presence in us. That is a life of purpose, His rule in us.
So, we need to stop and ask ourselves an honest question. What is competing in our lives for His rule? What is contending for the allegiance of our ambitions, for first place in our hearts? What, exactly, is keeping Jesus from being number one?
For some of us it’s our social standing, and we’re so determined to succeed socially that we quietly see Jesus as cramping our style. Peer pressure keeps us from following Him first. I’ve even known people who attend church only to work it as a social club or to expand their business network. What a waste. For others it’s career, or comfort, or control. The name on the throne differs; the problem is the same.
Here’s the thing: the throne of your life only seats one. For Jesus to be number one, we must place Him ahead of all persons and all things. Nothing and nobody can compete for top priority and share it. If He’s not first, He’s effectively not Lord, no matter what we say on Sunday.
I spoke once with a college student, raised in a Christian home, who had drifted at school and become what I’d call a divided Christian, Jesus no longer preeminent, just somewhere on the schedule. He told me, “I keep going through this struggle, asking myself, am I going to live God’s way or my way?” That’s the question every one of us has to answer.
So, answer it today. Is Jesus worthy of all of your life, not just a slot in it? He didn’t come to be added to your list. He came to rule. Give Him the throne, seek first His kingdom, and let Him work in you a life of purpose nothing else could produce.
THE THRONE OF YOUR LIFE SEATS ONLY ONE. STOP GIVING JESUS A SLOT AND LET HIM RULE, SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM.
