The question is not, “what is important to me?”  The question is “what predominates my mind?” There could be several things in your life that are truly important to you, that matter much more than other things.  Yet is your mind and thinking, your mental priorities, your attitudes and actions centered on what is truly important?  Or is your mind predominated by concerns of the lesser and uncontrollable concerns in dealing with things of life?  In other words, how much of your time is intentionally dedicated to what truly matters to you?  Or is your life filled with juggling things that may not be important at all, but are other’s expectations of you, or self-determined expectations of yourself that if not met leave you feeling disappointed?  Yet, these expectations by others or you have nothing to do with what is truly important to you.

For followers of Jesus I think this is the greatest snare of the evil one in attempting to make our lives be off track with what God desires for us.  First, I believe God gives priority desires to the follower of Jesus.  Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”  Even though you can read the verse to say that whatever desires you have, if you delight in the Lord, He will grant those desires to you.  However, I see it differently, I see that the one who takes delight in the Lord, and seeks the Lord, God will then place desires in their heart that fully align with Him and His purposes and plans.  Therefore, what is important to God will be their desire too.  This then filters into our daily living, so that as we awaken to a new day, we desire to pursue the things that are truly important to God and to us.

The problem is, life is messy and is filled with things that are not that important to us but are thrust upon us by others or ourselves, so that our alignment is no longer on the priority desires given by our Father.  The result is being muddled down in stuff and things that cause worry, fear, disappointment, and weariness.  When this happens, it is time to re-align with the desires God has given you and you can focus on those things that truly matter in life.  Matthew 6:33 reminds us, “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”  This passage is speaking about worry regarding the basics of life.  It is a good reminder of what our priority should be even in an uncertain volatile world.  Our priority is pursuing God’s Kingdom as our purpose and living in the righteousness we have by faith in Jesus Christ.  These things will correspond with the desires God places in your heart.  Sometimes we must deal with matters of life that are not as important to us, that is the messiness of life. But when we can keep our focus aligned with God then He guides us to keep what is most important as a priority even when dealing with the lesser.  But by His grace, we can seek His Kingdom and keep what is truly important to us as our first priority.