Most people approach the New Year with many hopes, goals and aspirations whether individually or collectively. However, I would like to share with you the most strategic way to live in 2019 and beyond in the eyes of the Sovereign one. This is the only way to become and remain relevant to your creator, humanity and the planet.
You were made to manage the earth for God and to use his resources in the earth for the advancement of His kingdom. The fall of man was such a sad day on the divine calendar and a dislocation in the purposes of God for man and the earth. Man switched focus on the kingdom for things. Anytime you feel incomplete without things, find relevance in the things you possess or you are defined by things, you have lost kingdom focus. When you lose your focus on the kingdom you will become a helpless slave of things.
Humanity had been plunged into a blind and insatiable pursuit of things. The entire human race has been reconfigured by Satan to put things first. This is an apparent discord since man was not made for things but things for man. By the time the Word became flesh in the person of Jesus, the entire human race had their aspiration, vision, focus and purpose on things. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus interrupts the status quo with the following statement:
Matthew 6: 31-33 KJV
‘Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you’.
Prioritise the Kingdom
The scripture above does not say, “…seek ye the kingdom…” but “…seek ye first the kingdom…” seek the kingdom first or don’t seek it at all. This is the seriousness of the law of priority. If you are born again and have the life of God in you, you are already in the kingdom. This means that when you contextualise the scripture above as a child of God, you are not seeking the kingdom as though it is missing but as one who prioritises the kingdom every day as a lifestyle. A chronic and an unbridled pursuit of intimacy with the King and a vigorous engagement of the laws of His domain. This should be the priority of your life. God’s overriding passion is His kingdom; if it is not about His kingdom, He is not interested. In other words, Jesus is saying, if he can find a man who will prioritise the kingdom, all the things humanity is seeking for will be added to him. If you will make the kingdom of God your focus, things men seek (food, clothing shelter etc.) will make you their focus.
Love God Enough to Spend Quality Time with Him first
‘He who runs away from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day’- John Bunyan
Mark 12:28-30 KJV
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment
God is the king in the kingdom. You cannot truly seek the kingdom without seeking God. Determine to know God like never before this year. Spend time with God and explore Him. Get to know Him intimately through ample times of solitude.
Have a monomaniacal approach towards the kingdom of God. Have one priority in 2019: the kingdom. When you wake up in the morning, don’t think of your phone first; think of the kingdom. Let your only vision, focus, priority and orientation be the kingdom. As you set out to pursue the kingdom, you will know God, reflect Him and represent Him on the earth on a daily basis.
Rule and subdue the earth!