DEVOTIONAL                                         

 True Christian Priorities

  Introduction:

  a) Perhaps the most suitable place to begin is with a clear definition of our terms. The 
key word in the title, of course is "priorities".  The dictionary definition for "priority" is: "a 
superior claim, something meriting special attention". 

 b) I believe that this is an appropriate place to begin, as it lays some ground rules for 
us. We are therefore, dealing with an issue which merits special attention, something 
which has a superior claim on our lives as Christians.  We may even venture further 
with our definition by referring to our thesaurus. As we do we find the term "priority" can 
be variously rendered, "precedence, preference, seniority, superiority or supremacy". 

 c) Is there anything within the bible which indicates that there might be something that 
God says is this kind of a "priority"? Does the Christian message contain any  
suggestion that there may be something expected of us which could be described as 
having precedence within our live, or preference, or even seniority, superiority and 
supremacy? Questions like this must be answered before we can adequately tackle the 
remainder of the question which concerns the all important matter of "money". 

 d) Let us listen to the bible`s own emphasis on "priorities". Take Matt 6:33 "Seek first 
His kingdom and His righteousness...". This is an appropriate place to begin. Jesus 
Himself sets the priorities. First "the kingdom of God and His righteousness". Whatever 
we may think about the place of money within the Christian life, we must begin here, 
God`s kingdom and God`s righteousness. We must be clear on this issue. Are we 
maintaining the centrality of God`s kingdom and His Righteousness? Is this taking 
"precedence, preference, superiority, and supremacy "in our lives? 

 e) Unless we are prepared to  assess our attitude towards God, our involvement within 
His Kingdom, the obtaining of the righteousness of Christ by faith, the imparting of 
righteousness through holiness of living, we will never arrive at a satisfactory conclusion 
with respect to our use of money. Indeed, the fact of the matter is this, if we can obtain a 
correct biblical awareness of our position before God spiritually then our problems with 
money will become resolved. 

 f) Listen to Paul`s comment about priorities in Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is 
Christ......". There it is. This is Paul`s ambition, goal and objective in life. For the apostle

 everything revolves around this controlling principle. It dominates his life and 
behaviour. Christ is at the centre, Christ is supreme, Christ is preferred above all other 
issues in life. Here is his priority. Christ had a superior claim on his life. Christ merited 
special attention. Christ was his first preference. You see, this is biblical priority! How  
does this match up to your priorities?

 g) Finally, let us look at his amazing declaration in Galatians 2:20 which is really a 
commentary upon his Philippians statement. Here he says, "I have been crucified with 
Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the 
flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me". This is 
true "priority living". Here he is seen practising his priorities. If he can say, "For me to 
live is Christ", it must change is life and the ground rules by which he lives and 
operates. Therefore, in this Galatian passage he is able to show the effect the 
Christ-priority  is having upon his life, "... it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives  
in me....." . How do we compare with this? Again, I assert that if we could be lay this as 
realistic ground rules in our lives we would have little problems with the practical areas  
of our daily living. 

                                        1. Principles to follow .

  Money and the bible:  Here we are interested in the right understanding of money. We 
must be clear about the bible`s approach  and attitude to money and the things money

 can buy. Here are various principles to follow which will guide us in our money and 
priorities. 

 a)  Avoid the love of money. Please don`t make the mistake of taking an incorrect

 rendering of 1 Tim 6:10. it is the "love of money" which is the "root of all evil" and not 
money itself. Nowhere does the bible actually condemn money in and of itself. The "love 
of money", ie the craving, the obsession with money is the evil. This is relevant to both 
the rich and the poor. We can all be guilty of the "love of money" and this is something 
we must deal with as a fundamental principle in our lives.  Jesus said, "Beware of 
covetousness; for a man`s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" ( 
Luke 12:15). We must be free from the spirit of the age which tends to think that the 
quality of life, the very essence of life is dependent upon the accumulation of money. 
Life is more than money, things and possessions. Life itself has a certain quality, 
especially for the Christian, (s)he is living for Jesus, for the Kingdom, for eternity. 

  Following this remark, Jesus made another profound statement, "For where your 
treasure is, there will your heart be also" ( Luke 12:34). In other words, you know where 
your treasure lies, the thing that you treasure most in life by the constant location of 
your heart, your mind. If you are constantly thinking of money, the spending of money, 
the worry of money, the gaining of money, then that is your treasure in life, that is the 
thing for which you are currently living. Here is the "love of money".   Then heed Paul`s 
next statement, "which is the root of all evil". How profound, how ageless is this 
statement. Here is a truth for all time. The love of money is the "root", ie the foundation, 
the basis for so much evil in the world. It leads to materialism, to greed, envy, 
criminality, violence, hatred....... It is at this point that the previous words of  Paul are so 
meaningful, "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many 
senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction..... It is through 
this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with 
many pangs" ( 1 Tim 6:9, 10). Society today clearly demonstrates the meaning of those 
words. Many "Christians" have found them to be true in reality. Let this very wise 
statement from Ecclesiastes be a  warning to us, "He who loves money will not be 
satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain"  (Eccl 5:10).  The point is that 
in reality money or possessions do not satisfy. This is a fact of life both  within the 
Christian realm and the non- christian. Ecclesiastes again " All the toil of man is for his 
mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied" ( Eccl 6:7). There it is! No satisfaction will ever 
be obtained merely through money or possessions. Initially we all think that the next 
wage rise or the obtaining of this or that item will eventually bring us happiness. But 
materialism is a delusion. It is a mirage, it seems to promise joy and peace, but on 
obtaining our material desires we are instantly fooled. Happiness based on money or  
possessions is always just out of reach. 

 b) Recognise the true biblical balance. The Bible recognises that there has to be a 
balance in life. Thus Proverbs 30:8-9 spells out a more ideal situation for us all, "...give 
me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, let I be full, 
and deny thee, and say, `Who is the Lord?`, or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the 
name of my God".  The writer seems to recognise that his soul is of utmost importance, 
nothing must damage his relationship with God. He is aware that his soul will be under 
pressure from either poverty of riches. An astute observation.  But listen to another 
balanced statement from Proverbs 15:17, "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than 
great treasure and trouble with it. Better a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted ox 
and hatred with it ". A profound statement. Here is quality   set against quantity, here is 
quality living set in contrast to   abundance of possessions. We are not suggesting that 
it is impossible to be spiritual and rich at the same time. The bible is full of many very 
godly rich individuals - Abraham, Job, Lydia and Philemon. Their riches and 
possessions were never frowned upon. No! The governing principle is this again, "the 
love of money is the root of all evil". 

 c) Understand the treasure we already possess. Hebrews 13:5, " Keep your life free 
from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has  said, 'I will never 
fail your nor forsake you'". We have to fight against this "love of money". The temptation 
is constantly there before us. We are living in a materially dominated world which is 
entirely anti-God in its attitude towards life. We are constantly bombarded on the TV 
both in advertisements and in drama, that the secret to life lies in material gain. Don`t 
surrender to this blatant lie. You must labour to " Keep your life free from the love of 
money". There it is, you have to guard your very life, you must maintain it "free" from 
this bondage. How do you do this, "be content with what you have:". If only we could 
arrive at this! Contentment is something the world craves for, longs for but is totally

 denied outside of Jesus. Someone who is "content" is to be envied". Then  recognise 
value of the spiritual realm, tell yourself that you have God, salvation, the indwelling 
Holy Spirit, remember the following words of Heb 13:5 "He has said, 'I will never fail you 
nor forsake you'". That is our treasure. This is what Paul meant when he said, "we have 
this treasure in earthen vessels" ( 2 Cor 4:7).

				 2. A Suggested Practice to follow

  a) First, to redress the balance, let us be fully aware that Christianity is no "kill joy". As 
Isaac Watts stated in his hymn, "Religion never was designed to make our pleasures

 less". Scripture assures us that, "...everything created by God is good, and nothing is to 
be rejected...." ( 1 Tim 4:4). In saying this, it is not suggested that sin, and specific

 areas of non-biblical activity are acceptable. But in general, we can recognise that the 
world around us is God- created and to be received and enjoyed. Again, the Word

 states, "...God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy" ( 1 Tim 6:17). 
Christians can enjoy God`s creation, we can enjoy life, it is spiritual for us to find 
enjoyment in life.

  b) Secondly, decide your own basis of  giving to God . Some like to follow the Old 
Testament method of tithing. But perhaps the best and most relevant teaching comes 
from 2 Cor 8-9, and especially the motivating comment in 8:9 "For you know the grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so 
that by His poverty you might become rich". Christian giving to God is not legalistic, it is 
in loving response to the Gospel. We give to Him because He so graciously gave to us. 

 c) Thirdly, in conclusion, we must draw the final practical lesson. How should we spend 
our money. Now, it cannot be my place to present to you a list of rules in which I specify

 those areas in which you spend your money. I was given a list of basic purchases such 
as "food, booze, rock & roll, God / Church....". Let us be perfectly clear on an important 
issue. The bible does not set out to give us specific applicable rules on Christian ethics 
which detail actual practices. I grew up in an age when it was acceptable Christian 
practice not to attend the cinema; not to watch TV on Sundays; not to go dancing or 
enter a Public House; or drink alcohol. Christianity was a list of "don`ts" which one had 
to subscribe to, or it was doubted that you were born again! No, Christianity is neither 
negative nor legalistic.  Scripture does not and cannot present sanctification in that 
manner. If it did then its teaching would be dreadfully limited and out of date. Paul would 
need to be prohibiting gladiators ( not cinema and TV!) Etc.  The point is this, in the light 
of the principles stated above, ie setting priorities first in terms of the kingdom, the life of 
Jesus in the soul,  our main ambition is "For me to live is Christ"; keeping ourselves free 
from the love of money; ensuring that part of your worship is demonstrated in your 
giving to the work of God, it is possible to say, "spend your money on what you like"! 
You must allow yourselves to be governed by the spirit of these principles.  All that we 
have comes from Him and is His already. 

 These are the questions you must ask yourself.

                   i) What are your priorities? Decide on the demands of Christ upon your life. 
Read and think carefully on those scriptures we presented earlier. Establish the depth 
of your spiritual lives. Ensure that for you to live is Christ. That you are "seeking first the 
Kingdom of God.....". 

             ii) What is the meaning of life for you? Is it simply money, material things, this 
world? Or have you recognised that you are part of this glorious Kingdom, that "for you 
to live is Christ"?  Are you standing alongside of Abraham , of whom it was said, "...he 
looked forward to the city which has foundations  whose builder and maker is God". Are 
you aware of the eternal?

  Having answered these questions - spend your money according to the dictates of 
your conscience. Spend your money on what you like. I know that I can safety say this 
because your assessment of your "priorities" (ie  "a superior claim, something meriting 
special attention") will control you; guard you; guide you and protect you. You will now 
be free to do what is right in the sight of God.

 © Copyright  Richard Lee. Please feel free to copy and distribute any of this material 
but not for resale, July 1996

Contact me on Richard@rllee.demon.co.uk