What Is Most Important to You In Life?

Our priorities represent our scale of values, what’s most important to us in life.  They’re either going to be temporal or eternal, but they won’t be both.  Jesus in Matthew 6:33 said, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” i.e., ‘everything else you need, I will provide.’  This brings out a priority point: The main thing in life is to keep the main thing the main thing!  And the ‘Main Thing’ is Jesus Christ.

In Colossians 3:1 the Apostle said, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” {v. 2}, meaning not on the distractions and deceptions of the satanic system around us.  Phroneo refers to our ‘thinking,’ and the present imperative means- ‘be constantly thinking about what draws our gaze to the Master.’  To “set your minds on things above,” where your great King currently resides, is to take an eternal perspective, day after day after day, so that your priorities are aligned with Eternity.  And with a Kingdom lasting for all Eternity.

The author of Hebrews in 3:1 said, “Therefore, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling [meaning the Royal Family of Faith], fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess.”  The compound katanoeo means- ‘bear down with the mind, concentrate, think carefully, examine closely.’  We bear down with our minds upon the Living Word.  And one of the ways we do this is by concentrating, by thinking carefully and examining closely the written Word.  Which is another way of saying we live with a passion for Truth.

In Hebrews 12:2 he writes, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, scorning its shame....”  To “fix” the “eyes” of the soul “on Jesus” and keep them there is from the present participle of aphorao meaning- ‘view with undivided attention, fix one’s eyes by looking away from every other object.’  You know what the formula for successful running in the Life of Faith is?  To look away from everything on the horizon, all the sinful encumbrances and entanglements, all the distractions and deceptions of the world, and to concentrate our upward gaze on one thing— the Lord Jesus Christ!  This is a faith-filled, Scripture-formed focus on the Son of God.  Get this.  Clarity and objectivity come from taking an eternal perspective, from putting the Word into practice in the circumstances of life.  They come from recognizing and embracing: [i] this world is not all there is; and [ii] a far greater World awaits.

V. 3, “Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men....”  Analogizomai is a command meaning- ‘think over, ponder, consider by comparison.’  Why?  Why ‘think through’ the Life and Death of our Lord at length, why should we ‘consider by comparison’ with our own pain the incredible “opposition” Jesus endured from a hate-filled enemy embodied in the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the teachers of the Law?  “So that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  I’m going to let you in on a little secret to divine endurance.  You will grow weary in the Race; but you don’t have to lose heart while it’s happening.  You can find rest in the shadow of His wings, in the secret place of the Most High.  And you will need to— again and again and again.

I want you to know this and to remember it.  It is possible to live with faith, to live with courage, to live with conviction, by constantly comparing the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus to the trash of far lesser priorities!  By fixing the eyes of our faith on Jesus, it is possible to lay aside the distractions, deceptions, and destructions of this world.  It is, and we should.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously