The Christian’s Top Priority

What is your top priority as a Christian? Does it align with the primary pursuit that Jesus gave His disciples? Today, R.C. Sproul considers the Lord’s exhortation to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33).

Isn’t it strange that when God condescends to simplify things for us and tell us, “OK, now here are the ABCs—here are the things I really want you to be concerned about, to major in, where the emphasis should be,” that we should miss that? And they said: “OK, Jesus, we hear all these commandments that You give us and all the things that You want us to do, but can’t You prioritize the goals for Your people? Can’t You manage us by clear objectives? Can’t You make it clear what are the ABCs, the number one things that You want us to do?” And Jesus said, “Yes, I’ll boil it down for you. I’ll make it as simple as pie: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things—everything else that we’re talking about—will be added unto you.” Everything else is icing on the cake. Keep your eye on the issue.

Jonathan Edwards said it this way: “The seeking of the kingdom of God and the pursuit of righteousness is the main and central business of every Christian life.” What does God want from you? He wants righteousness. And yet, here’s what grieves me: When’s the last time you heard a Christian in casual conversation say, “How can I be more righteous?” It’s a dirty word. In the church, it’s a dirty word.

We almost never talk about righteousness. We talk about being spiritual, don’t we? “Oh, I want to be more spiritual.” Or we talk about being moral, don’t we? Or we talk about piety: “We need piety.” What do you need piety for? What do you want to be spiritual for? What is the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit? What are the fruits of the Spirit all about? God does want us to be spiritually oriented, and He certainly cares about our morality and our piety. But those things are all merely means to an end. What God wants is righteousness.

If you’re spiritual—if you say your prayers every night and mark it on the calendar, and read your Bible every morning and have your quiet time and your devotions, and say all the right words during the day and use nothing but Christian jargon and nomenclature, you can sound and be very spiritual. But that does not mean that you will be righteous. Righteousness simply means doing the right thing as it’s defined by God’s commandments. Jesus put it another way. He says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).