We are walking in today: Men Of Torah Day--Men Rediscovering Their Priority in The Kingdom!!!
Witness order throughout the Bible: H6186 `arak--to arrange, set or put or lay in order, set in array, prepare, order, ordain, handle, furnish, esteem, equal, direct, compare
Genesis 22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid H6186 the wood in order, H6186 and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
The Torah ...............
Leviticus 1:7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order H6186 upon the fire:
The prophets ..................
Isaiah 44:7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order H6186 for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
The writings ...........................
Joshua 2:6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order H6186 upon the roof.
Psalm 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order H6186 unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Mathew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what shall ye put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
The pursuit of life is in the heart and minds of everyone male and female alike. Goals, careers, education, personal health targets, Bills, the latest technological gadget or car. All as a vice to pursuit of mankind. Who where created to be conquerors over this earths fruits.
But when the pursuit of these material vices becomes more of a bondage than obtaining happiness. The life lesson becomes repetitive and out of the accurate order The Most High intended the pursuit of life and happiness to be.
Therefore the question remains. What does the priority of life look like, seek things or The Kingdom, as The Most High intended it to be?
REDISCOVERING THE PRIORITY
The greatest secret to living effectively on earth is understanding the principle and power of priorities. Life on earth holds no greater challenge than the complicating daily demand of choosing among competing alternatives for our limited time.
Life was designed to be simple, not complicated, and the key to simplifying life is prioritization. Identifying the correct and right priority of life is the key to a successful and fulfilled life. So then, what is the principle and concept of priority?
Priority is defined as:
The principal thing.
Putting first things first.
Establishing the most important thing.
Primary focus.
Placing in order of importance.
Placing highest value and worth upon.
First among all others.
If our priorities determine the quality of life and dictate all of our actions and behavior, then it is essential that we understand and identify our priorities. The greatest tragedy in life is not death but life without a purpose—life with the wrong priorities. Success in life is measured by the effective use of one’s time.
Your time is important because your time is your life. And the key to effective use of your time is establishing correct priorities. First things first! Correct priority is the principle of progress because when you establish your priority according to your purpose and goals then your progress is guaranteed. Correct priority protects your time. When you set the right priorities, then you use your time for intentional purposes; your time is not abused or wasted.
Failure to establish correct priority causes you to waste your two most important commodities: your time and your energy. Why is this principle of priority so important to our discussion of the Kingdom? Because if priority is the essence of life, then we should want to know what our priority in life should be so that we can live effectively.
THE PRIORITY OF GOD
Should it surprise us to discover that The Most High’s priority for mankind is completely opposite to man’s priorities? During His first discourse introducing His mission and primary message, Yeshua established The Most High’s priority for all mankind with several powerful and straightforward statements:
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (Matthew 6:25).
His admonition to us not to worry implies that these basic needs for maintenance should not be the primary motivator for human action. The word worry means to consume in thought, to establish as our first interest, mental preoccupation, priority concern, fretting, fear of the unknown, and to rehearse the future over which we have no control.
Continuing on, Yeshua says:
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:26-27).
This statement implies that our self-worth is more important than our basic needs and should never be sacrificed for the sake of those needs.
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:28-30).
The thrust of these verses is that our confidence in our Creator’s obligation and commitment to sustain His creation should lead us to transfer our priority from our basic human needs to the priority of cultivating and maintaining a healthy relationship with His Kingdom and with Himself.
GOD’S PRIORITY ASSIGNMENT FOR MANKIND
Our first instruction from Yeshua is to seek. This means to pursue, study, explore, understand, learn, and consider. Seekers must have a desire to know, and possess a passion for the object of their search. To seek means to give diligent dedication to and to preoccupy one’s self with that which one is seeking. The Kingdom must be pursued, studied, understood, and learned.
Second, Yeshua tells us to make the Kingdom first. In other words, the Kingdom must be our top priority, the principal thing to place before all others as most important. We must place the highest value on the Kingdom of God, setting it above everything as our primary focus. The Kingdom must be placed above everything else and should have no competition. It must be our highest priority.
Yeshua then instructs us to seek first the Kingdom. This is the most important aspect of the mandate and must be carefully considered. First, it is important to understand that because a kingdom is not a religion, the priority of mankind should not be to seek a religion or some form of ritual.
The word for “kingdom” in this verse is basileia (NT: 923), the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew mamlakah (OT: 4467), translated in Genesis 1:26 as “dominion.” Both words mean dominion, sovereign rule, kingdom, reign, or royal power. In this book, we will focus on this concept in detail because it should be our priority and because it is generally an unknown or misunderstood concept in most modern cultures.
In practical terms, a kingdom may be defined as “the sovereign rule of a king over territory (domain), impacting it with his will, purpose, and intent.
A kingdom is…
The governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his personal will, purpose, and intent, producing a culture, values, morals, and lifestyle that reflect the king’s desires and nature for his citizens.
Yeshua’ final instruction to us in this verse is to seek also the righteousness of the Kingdom. This is another vitally important concept that has been diluted in the waters of religion and must be recovered if we are to understand the Kingdom and experience the abundant life all humans deserve.
The word righteousness is actually from the discipline of law, not religion, and implies right positioning. To be righteous means to be in alignment with authority, to be in right standing with authority, to have correct fellowship with authority, to be in right relationship with authority, to be in legal or lawful alignment, and to be in correct standing with the law or regulations (principles) of and to fulfill the requirements of authority.
In essence, righteousness describes the maintenance of the rightly aligned relationship with a governing authority so as to qualify for the right to receive governmental privileges.
This is why Yeshua emphasizes the Kingdom and the need to be righteous so that you can receive “all things added unto you.” This promise includes all your physical needs, all your social needs, all your emotional needs, all your psychological needs, all your financial needs, and all your security needs, as well as your need for self-significance and a sense of self-worth and purpose.
Therefore, as we have seen above, God established only two priorities for mankind: the Kingdom of God and the righteousness of God. Kingdom refers to the governing influence of Heaven on earth and righteousness refers to right alignment and positioning with that government authority.
Our highest priorities and greatest desires should be to enter the Kingdom of God and thirst for a right relationship with God’s heavenly government.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Shema Selah, we have to return to the priorities of our King and how to operate in His kingdom!!
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