Getting First Things First

So what are the most important things in your life? Have you thought about that question lately? Some say that you can find out what's really important to you by taking the tombstone test. And the tombstone test is just basically where you recite what you would like them to write on your tombstone. However, sometimes what we say, what we say about ourselves, what we wish others would say about ourselves, isn't what we do. So I'm going to give you another answer.

How you can tell what's the most important thing in your life. It's what you spend the most time doing in your life. In our early 21st century, we call the process of deciding what's most important to us, we call them our priorities.

Don't wait. The word priority is a noun, and it means one of a couple of things. It means the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important. And we say, well, this activity is more important to me, so it's a higher priority. Or this activity or action or whatever isn't valuable to me at all, so I'm not even going to add it on the list.

We make those priorities, don't wait. Another definition is a thing that is regarded as more important than another. So if you think about it, a great paradox exists in the year 2017. No other time in history has a society been able to enjoy so much free time. I'm reminded that I do some of the washing in my home of clothes and drying, and I'm always reminded of my dear mother in the late 1950s.

She had a big ringer washer. How many of you remember ringer washers? A big washer, and all it had was an agitator, and she threw clothes in there, and that thing sounded like a freight train. Then, to get the water out of the clothes, there were two rollers that spun, and she would pull the clothes out, and she would feed the clothes into the rollers, and it would come out the other stiff as a board, almost horizontal.

Pants would come out horizontal, coming out of the rollers. Then she would take that, and she would go and take all of those clothes and fold them up temporarily, put them on the line outside, because we didn't have something as luxurious as an actual dryer. She would let solar, the sunshine, cook those clothes, and I might add that they all felt like burlap, because they weren't soft and fluffy like today, because they were dried outside.

It would take this woman a day to wash the clothes for her husband and three children, two boys and a daughter. It was almost an all-day project. Today, we just throw something. We set the timer. We come back 40 minutes later. The clothes are washed. We throw them into a dryer, set another timer, walk away. We come back, and they're fluffy dry, ready to go. I could go on and on about other things we have today to give us so much free time. Yet, at the same time as we have all these luxuries, think about all the things that we have today to entertain us and distract us. All the things we have to waste our time.

I'll give you a simple, personal example. Recently, I signed up for something called Amazon Prime. I did it because there's a great savings in mailing costs. It's actually free shipping on a large number of products. It used to have to wait until I had like $39 or $49 to get free shipping. Now, if it's Amazon Prime, they'll send it to you, and the shipping is free.

That was great. But I didn't realize that when you sign up for Amazon Prime, you also get Amazon Video. That's hundreds of movies you can watch and waste your lifetime. And that's free. That's part of the package. But wait, there's more. There's Amazon Music. You can create hundreds of playlists in your very own music that you can waste hours and hours on. But wait, there's more. There's free Kindle Books as part of the Amazon Prime. You can get books to read. So when you're tired of watching videos and you spent the next four hours listening to music, now you can bring a book up on your Kindle device and you can read to your heart's content.

And I'm sure there's a lot more. Now, all of those things in themselves, they're not bad in themselves. The only point I'm bringing across is that today we have more books. We have more potential distractions than ever before in human history. We have lots of things that can eat up our time. Have you ever sat down to the computer and I'm going to work into the computer for 30 minutes and then like four hours later, where did the evening go?

Wow! What happened? Well, getting involved in social media and other things that can do that to us. Very, very easy. So I want to ask again just what are our priorities? It's summertime. It's warm. It's beautiful. It's sunny. As the old saying goes, it's summertime and the living is easy. So what are our priorities? I'd like to give you three tongue-in-cheek types of people who struggle with priorities. I've made these up. I've used these in my mind for many years. Working with clients and church members I've known.

So I've made up these terms. But it's three different types of people that I know who struggle with priorities. The first one is, what me worry? These are people who float through life like a cork in an ocean. They drift from item to item wherever time and chance takes them without any real plan or direction in life.

They deal with whatever comes along the way. That's their priority. Whatever happens, whatever comes next is their priority. Again, that's what me worry. The next type of person is the task master. These are the rigid goal-setters. They're so task-driven that they forget to enjoy life. Boardering on being a workaholic. Just do it. Do, do, do, do. Complete task after task after task. They're human do-ings instead of human beings. They complete many tasks, but they just don't get a lot of joy out of life.

This life was created for us to enjoy entertainment and balance and to just get a lot out of life. Then there's one of my favorites. The third type is, look, a shiny object. These are individuals who start out with all of the right intentions, and they create task lists. And they establish priorities, but they're distracted by every shiny object that glitters around them. Everything around them suddenly appears as urgent. Urgent means requiring immediate action or attention. It's usually an external event or a person asking for our immediate interest, like an email notification.

Ever notice that you're doing sping? I just got to look at that email. It's a notification. It's just calling out to me. I just have to look at that email. And they open up there and say, oh, another Viagra ad. Wow, let me read through this one. And they're just so easily distracted. It might be someone calling you on a phone, and it's a telemarketer.

I've got to answer. The phone is ringing. It might be a 24-hour sale. Wow, I've got to get out there and buy that today, because it's only a 24-hour sale. The last one that they had a week ago and three weeks ago, and we'll have next week. It's really important. Look, a shiny object. That's urgent. Important means something's of great significance or value, and it's likely to have an effect on your success or your well-being.

Urgency plays tricks in our minds, and we end up spending time doing insignificant things, always reacting to urgent, valuable activities. And if you don't have priorities, urgent distractions will always seem more pressing and more important than they really are. So these are the three types of people that I know who struggle with priorities. Did you know that Satan himself is a great time waster?

In Job, chapter 2, verse 2, it says this, It says, And the LORD said to Satan, From where do you come? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, No, from going to and fro on the earth, from walking back and forth on it. He's just stirring up trouble. There's no great plan there. He's just a great time waster. He's been wasting eternity. And unfortunately, if we tune into his wavelength, we will find ourselves being great time wasters.

It's important that we plan each day and know what our priorities are and what important tasks we need to do. Here's what I've learned in life the hard way. If you have all day to do something, odds are at the end of the day you will have done nothing.

And that's the truth. As a matter of fact, a major reason that we acquire personal problems in life is usually because we're focusing on the wrong priorities. The pressures of life, the daily distractions, the poor time management, selfishness can all lead us to wrong priorities. And these wrong priorities eventually conflict with our calling. They usually cause problems with the ones who love us. And the answer isn't just to do things faster.

Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things. So this is my topic today. I would like to just go through and study the question, what are the most important things in your life, in my life? Let's go to Matthew 6 and verse 19 and take a look at some statements Jesus said here in Matthew 6. Again, Matthew 6. We'll pick it up in verse 19. He says, Matthew 6 and verse 19, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Jesus is talking about a lot more here than just money, than money being defined as treasure. He's talking about one's mistaken priority being the desire to acquire material things, putting that first instead of the reward of being a disciple. We have a decision to make. First in our lives, we're either going to be pursuing material things or the alternative is to pursuing a future reward of discipleship.

That's really the choice that we're given here. But I want to read this scripture in context. Jesus has nothing against wealth. He has nothing against good food, eating good food, fine clothing, having a comfortable lifestyle. As a matter of fact, he says in verse 33 that we'll get to that if our priorities are right, God will give us those things.

So he has nothing against those things. It's a matter of what importance and priority we put on those things. So how would do we lay up treasures in heaven? He says here in verse 20, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. When we live God's way of life, God notices what we do. He observes what we do. And we are building a bank account.

We are building an account of rewards for the things that we do that please God. Jesus said in Revelation 22, he said, And behold, I am coming quickly. My reward is with me to give everyone according to his word. So that when we do things that please God, it's not that it's always a gift. It's not like we earn something from God. But God acknowledges that. He appreciates that. He loves us and through his grace. He says, I'm going to give you sonship. I'm going to give you eternal life. I'm going to give you rulership over five cities or ten cities.

I'm going to give these things to you as a reward for your faithful time on earth when you did the things that I asked you to do when you were obedient and faithful, when you were a doer, when you were kind, when you rejected those works of the flesh, when you worked hard to develop more of the fruit of my spirit, you're getting a reward for that. And as we just read in Revelation, Jesus Christ is bringing back that reward with him.

Let's take a look here now in verse 21 of Matthew 6. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So where are our hearts? Where's your heart? Where's my heart? What are we emotionally invested in? Well, the answer to that are what are the things that we spend most of our time on? Is it our immediate family? Is it our church family? Is it serving God by doing good works for others, caring for and loving others? Or is it the desire to be successful through acquiring just lots of stuff, lots of material possessions and wealth? Is it true that he who dies with the most toys wins, as the old saying goes? It's not true at all.

And here's why. You can't take it with you. Death is the great equalizer. No matter how much you acquired in this lifetime, homes, cars, 401K, no matter what you acquired in this lifetime, when you draw your last breath, you are equal with everyone else who's dead because you can't take it with you. I've said this before. The very same day that Bill Gates or Warren Buffett dies, there will be a homeless person in Cleveland who will die on the street.

From that moment on, for the first time in their physical lives, they will both be equal. Doesn't matter what Warren Buffett or Bill Gates acquired, when you're put in that ground, you both have nothing. So death is the great equalizer. The only difference is that Bill Gates will be in a prettier box.

So what Jesus is saying here is think about where our real priorities should lie. So, is he who dies with the most toys the one who wins? Well, no. Again, death is the great equalizer. As a matter of fact, living in the light of eternity should change our priorities from that of just striving to gain material stuff and things and possessions to building ourselves treasures in heaven.

The reason Jesus made this statement is because most people have their hearts and treasures based on the wrong priorities. And it's true even of some people who claim to be religious. Early missionaries in China discovered a unique situation. As part of their missionary efforts, they would go into a village that had never heard anything about Christianity and they would offer free rice if you came to Sunday service. People came in droves, got their free rice.

Many of them were baptized, right? They came... Well, you can't do that forever. You can't have a loss forever. So eventually they stopped handing out free rice and attendance plummeted. It collapsed and they termed the coin a rice Christian, meaning someone who basically came to church to get something free. And when it was no longer free, they suddenly decided they didn't need Jesus Christ in their lives. So that's really the reason I want to talk about this today.

Where is our heart? What kind of a treasure are we seeking? Take a look here at verse 22. It says, the lamp of the body is the eye. That's how we see the world. That's how we perceive our existence and our place in this universe. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. So if it's healthy, if our eye is healthy, if we're seeing things with the right perspective, a godly perspective, having the right priorities, then our life will be full of light. We'll get it. But if your eye is bad, if you're either blind or maybe you just have a distorted lens spiritually you're nearsighted or spiritually you're farsighted, your whole body will be full of darkness.

You don't quite get the clear picture, do you? You're seeing life through a distorted lens. And when we're materialistic, that's how we see life. That's how we see everything through a very distorted lens. He says, if therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? So again, the window to the mind is through our eyes.

Looking through the eyes is symbolic of what we long for. It's a metaphor. What do we long for? What do we really want? Where are our yearnings? If we focus on the right priorities through God's Spirit, we will indeed have trials and we'll have tests. But you know what? If we're looking through the right lens, we will say everyone has trials. Everyone has tests. The difference is that God is giving me these for my personal growth and development. And I'm going to go through this test with a good attitude, and I'm going to pass this trial, and I'm going to endure, because if I pass the test, then I don't have to take the test over again.

If I have a poor attitude, if I mess this up, if I don't do the things that I should do and react to God in the way that I need to react, then the same kind of test is going to happen to me again, and possibly again, and possibly again. So the choice is ours. But if we have the right perspective, we know that life is full of challenges, but we look at them as necessary stages of growth, and they become opportunities for change.

To take me to another level. To teach me to be more patient. To teach me to have more faith. To teach me to let go and rely more on God for my needs, my daily needs, my long-term needs. However, in contrast, if we focus on self-seeking physical accomplishments, and if we neglect the spiritual needs of life, we're going to stumble through life like a blind man in darkness. That's the metaphor that Jesus is saying here, verses 22 and 23. We're just going to stumble and make the same mistakes over and over again. Without a spiritual compass, we are lost in this wilderness called life.

So in your journey through this wilderness called life, how are you doing? Do you see things clearly? Are our priorities right? Or like a blind man? Have we just been stumbling through life the last year? Five years, ten years, twenty years. Verse 24, he says, No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Let's take a look at a couple of words here. First the word masters. He says you can't serve two masters. This is from the Greek word kureos, and it means someone who is supreme in authority. You know, the truth is, is that everyone on earth has a master. Either Jesus Christ is your master, or someone else is your master. The prince of the power of the air. You may not acknowledge that. People may not know that. They may not accept the fact that Satan is their master, but there's only two masters. There are two ways of life. You either follow Christ, or you follow the prince of the power of the air. That's the reality. Another word here, the word mammon, comes from an Aramaic word, which was the language Jesus spoke daily with the disciples. It's a word that means money, wealth, or possessions, although it may have originally meant something like that which one trusts in. In other words, it's a false confidence or trust that of ourselves we can provide for our own security and personal fulfillment. We cannot provide for our own security and personal fulfillment. That's impossible.

First of all, personal fulfillment can only come when you have a spiritual connection. Otherwise, you see life in a very myopic way. Verse 25, therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life. What you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body, what you will put on, is not life more than food and body more than clothing. He starts out here by using the word that's translated in English as worry. He's going to use this word a lot.

It's a Greek word, marinao, and it means to be anxious about something, to take excessive thought, to worry, to think about something over. Boy, that bothers me. That thought concerns me. That really bothers me. And Christ is going to use this word a number of times in the next few verses. People without a genuine purpose become anxious. They become driven to acquire something, usually material things, believing that if I just acquire these material things, then I'll be happy. Then I'll be filled. If I just gather enough wealth, then I'll feel secure in life. And again, all of that is an illusion.

Of course, life is far more than merely food and clothing. Jesus himself said in Matthew 4 and verse 4, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So again, to have true inner peace and complete fulfillment or self-actualization, whatever you want to call it, it has to have a spiritual element. Or it just won't happen. Now think about what you wear today. All of you look very nice. Thank you for dressing up to come to Sabbath services. And you'll have some good food, and hopefully you'll have a little bit of cake. That way, having someone's honor. But in reality, a thousand years from now, will it matter what you ate or drank today?

A thousand years from now, will it really matter how you're dressed today? How about a hundred years from now? How about ten years from now? How about a year from now? When you get to be the age of Mr. Graham and myself, will you even remember what you wore or ate yesterday? So my point is that these are physical things. And people stress out their entire physical lives, trying to get good food, and trying to acquire physical things, thinking that will bring happiness. But the truth is, it won't bring happiness. It won't bring fulfillment, because you've got to have the right priorities to even be able to enjoy those things.

When you know the purpose of wealth, then you understand that it's not just to grab everything there is to grab, that it's to be a good steward, a trustee, and to use that wealth to benefit others. Even wealth has a different purpose when your priorities are right. Material possessions have a different reason for being in your life when your priorities are right. Take a look at verse 26. It says, look at the birds of the air.

They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Birds do what birds were created to do. God takes care of them. They don't have anxiety. They don't worry about eating. Food just shows up and they eat it. A bug shows up. They eat it. Mr. Thomas puts more syrup in the hummingbird feeder, and they drink it. Life is good. It's not really that hard. Jesus is saying that we should do what we were created to do. We were created to worship God.

We were created to love our family and our neighbors, to find satisfaction in our work, because fulfillment and contentment comes from working with our hands from doing productive things.

We were created to enjoy the blessings that God gives us, and to leave the rest in God's gracious hands. It's not really that complicated. It's just that people make life far more complicated than it was ever intended to be. And what happens when we make life complicated? You know what that brings on us? That causes anxiety. Having the wrong priorities only increases the stress and frustration in our lives. Whatever physical things you achieve will never seem like it's enough. I have clients that are multi-millionaires. And you know what's the first thing they do every day?

Now, if you had multi-millions, would you be content with the first thing they do every day? They check the stock market when it opens, because it's never enough! So again, we don't want to live with this delusion, this false idea, that I somehow can make myself secure. That I can be content if only I'm wealthy, if only I have three cars, if only I have two homes, or an 8,000 square foot home, or if only, if only, if only, if only, none of that brings contentment. None of that brings true happiness. None of that brings fulfillment. But when we get our priorities right, and we get the right things in order, when we do achieve some of those things, they'll be very satisfying. Very meaningful, very fulfilling, because we'll understand why we have been given those gifts. Take a look at verse 27.

You know, the lilies, they're natural. That's God's natural creation. They have natural beauty. They're more naked, and man has to create clothing. Something man-made cannot rival the natural beauty of God's creation. So Jesus is saying here, even Solomon, in his most royal robes, hand-made, human royal robes, that may be impressed some people, didn't have the level of glory just looking out into a field of some natural flowers in the state that God created them. He says, verse 30, Now if God so closed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, we know there will come a time in God's plan when everything physical will be burned up.

So again, does that give added meaning to our 401k knowing it's going to be burned up? All the clothes in our closet someday will be burned up. Our automobiles, our homes, everything that, inhumanly speaking, we hold dear and we strive and struggle to get and hold on to.

It's all going to be burned up. It's all going to be gone. That's what Jesus's point is here. And as thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you of little faith. So he's saying here that worry cannot add to your lifespan. Indeed, the stress that worry usually produces will typically shorten our lifespan, not add to it. Oh, you of little faith, he says, Jesus is telling us to trust him to provide for everything that we really need.

He isn't promising to give us what we want, because frankly, most things we want wouldn't be good for us anyway. But he promises to give us what we really need. As we put him first in our life, he will provide the blessings and opportunities to enrich us in other ways. What is it again? It's the matter of having the right priorities and taking our genuine needs to the throne of God and asking our Father for the things that we need. And Jesus says he will provide those needs. Verse 31, therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat?

What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. And what he means in context, these are the things that they seek first. For all they have no real purpose in life. Their purpose indeed is whoever dies with the most toy wins. So I have to claw, push, dig my way to success in order to acquire these things so that when I'm old and ready to die I can say, Aha, I did better than you did. He says that's primarily what the Gentiles seek first. He says, but it shouldn't be that way among you.

For your heavenly Father knows that you need these things. So he's saying, don't be consumed about the daily cares of each day. When we walk with Christ, He knows our needs. He knows our problems. He knows our hopes. Trust in His ability to provide answers and His ability to open doors for us. He knows what we really need in contrast to what we think we need, which oftentimes will actually harm us.

Let's allow God to be the judge of what these things are. Verse 33, but seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Notice, He says, just get your priorities straight. And you know what?

The food and the nice clothes and the comfort and all of these material things that I've been talking about, they will be added to you at the right time, in the right order, and therefore you will give them the right meaning in your life.

I want to be clear about what the Savior is saying here. Jesus wasn't teaching that we should all have a vow of poverty. He's not saying that we should be dependent on others. He wasn't saying we should avoid work or avoid our responsibilities. He was teaching to seek the kingdom of God first and foremost, and our other needs will be added as blessings from Him.

He promises us to take care of our needs and even some of our wants. But only with a proper spiritual perspective can these material blessings even be enjoyed. They can even be shared with others. The thing that we often forget that I think is really important for those of us of faith is to realize that we are only trustees and stewards of everything that we own.

You know, on paper I own a home in a little township called Litchfield, Ohio. I'm just a trustee there. Someday I'll be gone. Someone else is going to live there. It's just during this short span in life that God has blessed me with the opportunity to only be a steward of that property until I'm gone. That's true of everything we own. From the clothes in our closet to the rings on our fingers, everything we own in reality we are just temporary stewards of.

And don't be passed on to someone else. That is the right perspective. It's the same of being a church pastor. Cleveland is 50 years old this year, this congregation. Now, it actually happened in March and we didn't have a little something special, but before the year's over we'll try to have a special Sabbath.

The first congregation from the radio church of God was incorporated in Greater Cleveland 50 years ago this year, and we will recognize that. The only reason I bring that up is that there were many pastors before me and there will be pastors after me. I'm just your trustee. I don't own you. Jesus Christ owns you. And every day I remind myself that I am just a shepherd, I am just a steward of the gift of God.

You belong to Christ. And if you have that perspective about your possessions, about everything in life, that is the right perspective because you're not selfish, you're not greedy, and you're certainly not entitled. So let's take a look. Let's break down verse 33 in a little more detail. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. The discussion by Jesus here is He was warning His believers again in having the right priorities in life. So again, what's yours? The reason I have to ask this question is many people really don't know.

They say their priorities are one thing, yet as you observe their lives, you see that they spend most of their time and energies on other things. You know something? Unlike what political philosophers tell us, I'm going to tell you the truth. We are all different and unequal in many ways. We're not equal, we're unequal. We were all brought into this world with different genetics. Some of us have genetics that will tend to give us cancers and other diseases earlier than others. We come from different family backgrounds. Some of us came from great parents. There was a nuclear family. They loved us. That was an advantage. Others of us, like myself, came from what they used to call broken homes.

So there's no equality there. Some of us are physically strong. Some of us are physically weak. Some of us have very high mental acuity. We think quickly. Others of us have very low mental acuity. So the reality is we are all unequal, except for one thing. You know the one thing that we all are equal at? We all have the same amount of hours in every day.

No matter what our background, no matter what our mental acuity, no matter what our physical strength or weakness, we all have the same amount of hours every day. How we choose to use those hours, and that's a choice, will determine how faithfully we follow Christ and how productive our lives become. Turn with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 27.

I want to make a comment on what Jesus said to seek His righteousness. Remember that? We just read that. Jesus said to seek, meaning God's righteousness. Jesus isn't saying to seek our own righteousness. And He does that for a reason. The Pharisees were self-righteous. There are a lot of people who are alive today, religious people who are self-righteous. They're all in their own form of righteousness. And it's, look at me, look how righteous I am, give me credit, give me attention. That's what it is. So whose righteousness should we seek? Should we seek our own righteousness? Well, let's allow Paul to tell us.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 27, it says, God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are.

God didn't call us because we're smarter than everyone else, or we're more righteous, or we're better than anyone else. He called us simply because of His grace and His mercy, and He looked down and said, I'm going to call that one. I'm going to give that individual an opportunity in their physical lifetime to respond to me. And why did He do that? Because He's going to bring to nothing the things that are. Someday, Jesus Christ is going to return to earth, and like putting that spade into a spring garden, He's going to put that shovel into the earth, and all of its cultures and religions and languages, and He's going to take this world, and He's going to turn it upside down, and He's going to bury 6,000 years of human sludge and plop a brand new world on top of it when He buries it into the soil.

That's what He's going to do. He's going to bring to nothing the things that you see around you today in this world. Verse 29, that no flesh should glory in His presence, but of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us. So I'm going to answer the question, whose righteousness should we seek? He became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That it is written, He who glories, don't glory in how smart you are, how talented you are, how righteous you are.

He who glories, let Him glory in the Lord. Let's give God credit, because it's through the Holy Spirit, it's His righteousness in us that makes us okay in God's eyes. It's that fills the gap for our own limitations. God is working through simple people every day. He's working through people with a converted heart. We are not a lead of the world. We are not in any reference publication, you know, their reference publications.

Who's who in academia? Who's who in business? You know, if they looked at our names, we would not be listed in any publication reference of who's who, would we? No, most of us would probably be in a book that's going to be entitled, Who Are You? But dwelling inside of us is God's Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ has become our righteousness, and that's why we need to seek the kingdom of God first, and His righteousness. All right, let's go to Luke chapter 12 and verse 16 and see the parable of a man who didn't get it ties in very well with what we were just reading here in Matthew chapter 6.

Someone who had deluded himself into thinking, oh, there'll be a thousand tomorrows. Why? I'm entitled to tomorrow. Life is good. I'm making the big bucks. I've got lots of good stuff. I've got prestige. I've just had a big crop, and I'm going to make all these plans because I am entitled to time.

Luke chapter 12 and verse 16, it says, and he spoke a parable to them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man yielded, polentively, bumper crop, all kinds of good stuff he grows. It's going to be a great year. And he thought within himself, that's his self talk, saying, what shall I do since I have no room to store my crops? I've got so much crops. I need to expand my business. So he said, I'll do this. I'll pull down my barns. I'll build bigger barns.

And there I will store all my crops and goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, who have many goods laid up for many years, take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

When I do that, then I'll be fulfilled. When I build that bigger barn and put all these crops in it, then I'll be content. Then I'll be fulfilled. I'm not now, but then I will be. But God said to him, fool!

This night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be for which you have been provided? You're not entitled to tomorrow. The very next breath we take. Breathe deeply, because it's a gift from God.

This is what that man forgot. This night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be for which you have provided? If you're going to have some happy heirs, they'll probably have your entire estate blown in a week with riotous living, wine, women, and song. So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. You see, this man developed a false confidence in wealth and its ability to provide purpose and stability in his life. One major pitfall that many make is the wrong priorities. For some, it's a priority in wealth. For others, they make their career a priority. I want to be a CEO. I want to be a president of something. For some, it's power. I want to control people. I want to have a title and be able to tell people what to do. I want to be able to have people under my thumb. For some, it's prestige. I want to be like a celebrity. I want millions of people to scream when I walk out on that stage with my guitar in hand or my harmonica. Some, it's just simply to be admired by their peers. For you and I, having the wrong priorities is destructive to ourselves and the ones that we love. We need to make this calling our priority each and every day, one day at a time. When we've done it, be pleased with what we've achieved and do it all over again the very next day. You know, if we do that, if we realize that tomorrow's promise to no one and our daily calling depends on balance. It depends on a balance of worship towards God, walking, talking with our Creator, studying His handbook, a little bit of meditation and self-reflection. And that may take no more than an hour, whatever it takes for you to start your day off with. You know what? If we do that on a day, we're starting out that day and everything is going to fall into place. And even if we run into a roadblock, because we started our day that way, we'll have the right perspective. Even if a trial blows up in our face, totally unexpected, if we started our day off that way, we will face the trials of that day with the right perspective. Let's take a look at another scripture here, last scripture that we'll look at, Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 14. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 14.

Paul wrote, therefore, he says, Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, that's the old English word, we would call it diligently today. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming or reclaiming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Don't be like the man in this parable who was unwise, who just assumed that he was entitled to a thousand tomorrows and died in his sleep. And all of his dreams and hopes were gone, and he hadn't even prepared because he hadn't gotten right with God that very morning, his last morning, in his case. Let's not be like this person and be unwise. I'm going to read this from the translation, the New Century version, verse 14. Wake up, sleeper, rise from death, and Christ will shine on you. So be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise, but live wisely. Have the right priorities. Understand what your purpose is. Verse 16, use every chance you have for doing good because these are evil times, so do not be foolish, but learn what the Lord wants you to do.

There are many attractive pursuits in life which can spiritually lull us to sleep. A lot of things going on in this world that if we get involved in them and we make them our priority and we lose focus on what this calling is all about, we will fall spiritually into slumber. There are many meaningless things to waste our time each day. I want to encourage you to plan ahead to have a spiritually productive day. What is a spiritually productive day? It's when we spend some time in our relationship with God. We spend some time in our relationship with our loved ones, with our friends, with others, coworkers. It's when we add some constructive effort and accomplishments, working with our hands, doing some things that stimulate our mind, maybe a hobby, maybe our job, whatever it is. And it's balanced when we also mix in some needed recreation. Because we were created to need recreation. We have the Sabbath day and it reminds us of our rest on God's Sabbath and that's good. But during the week we also need to take out some times to refresh ourselves. Whatever it may be, and for those of us with different interests, it may be something different. I'm asking you today in conclusion to review and analyze your priorities. What is really, really important to you? Do your actions reveal the same priorities that you say are your priorities? How do you spend your time each day? Are your free hours used to enlighten, to educate, to expand your mind, or to idly fill it with meaningless nonsense? Things to access. Excess entertainment. Excess time spent on the internet. Excess time watching one of the 125 cable channels on our cable channel package. Whatever it may be.

I saw a large sign in a client's office this week. I was working with a client. I looked over to the right. He had this huge poster. Huge! It covered, it must have been six foot long and about four feet wide. It had the beautiful picture of a dreamy landscape. And it said, some people dream of success. Others wake up and work to make it happen.

So where are we at? Are we dreaming of a fulfilled life? Are we dreaming of better things? Are we dreaming of overcoming this problem that's maybe been plaguing us for decades? Or are we ready to wake up and make it happen? And how do we do that? We do that by having the right priorities. Reordering our life and focusing first on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And when we do that, then we have the right order of things. Then we have the right priorities. And we can expect other things, satisfying things, fulfilling things, happy things to be added to our lives.