Prioritizing God
Who wants to talk about Jesus!
Let’s face it, life is crazy right now. In our fast-paced world, we’re juggling jobs, relationships, and responsibilities, oh my! In these crazy times, our priorities become very important. As disciples, we often hear that God should be our "top priority." But what does that really mean? Should we see God as the pinnacle of a priority pyramid as we strive to do things in order to reach Him? Or should we view Him as the foundation where we build our lives upon His love and truth so that everything else flows from Him?
The way we position God in our lives shapes how we live out our faith, interact with others, and pursue our callings. Let's explore these two perspectives and why making God the foundation rather than just the top priority transforms our relationship with Him.
Seeing God as the Top of the Priority Pyramid
Many Christians operate with the mindset that God is at the top of their priority list. At first glance, this seems like a faithful approach. It acknowledges that God is the most important aspect of life. The star on the top of a Christmas tree! However, this mindset can unintentionally lead to a works based faith. While work is important in our faith, there’s nothing we can do to “earn” when it comes to God. We can’t do enough to earn salvation, time with Him, or even His love.
When God is positioned as the top of a priority pyramid, it implies that we must work our way UP to Him. Our days may begin with prayer and Bible reading, but once we check those off the list, we move on to work, family, and personal matters, often without integrating God into them. This creates a faith life that is detached from our daily living.
On top of it, this viewpoint can produce guilt and exhaustion! If we see our relationship with God as another task to accomplish rather than the source of our strength, we may feel like we are never doing enough. When life gets busy, we risk pushing God aside, thinking that we’ll “get back to Him” when we have more time. This leads to an inconsistent spiritual walk rather than a life fully rooted in Christ.
Seeing God as the Foundation of Our Lives
Instead of viewing God as the highest rung of a ladder we must climb, Scripture encourages us to make Him the foundation upon which everything else is built. Rather than being just one part of our priority list, God should be woven into every part of our lives.
The Strength of Building Upon the Rock
Jesus teaches this concept in Matthew 7:24-25:
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. (CSB)
When God is our foundation, everything we do in our work, relationships, goals, and daily responsibilities begins to rest upon His truth and love. Instead of trying to fit God into our schedule, our entire schedule is built upon Him. This means that our work is done for His glory, our family relationships are shaped by His love, and our decisions are guided by His wisdom.
Living a Life Founded in God
When we shift from seeing God as simply the “top” priority to being the foundation of everything we do, several things change:
Our faith is no longer isolated
Rather than treating God as a separate category of life, everything starts to go hand in hand with God’s influences. We start to see decisions and interactions through God-Colored glasses.
Work is no longer just work, it’s a place to glorify God. The people we’re upset with become an opportunity to reflect God’s love. Our faith starts to seep into every action, every task, instead of this illusive “thing” we have to work hard to get to.
We start to rely on God solely
I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. (John 15:5 CSB)
We revert back to relying on our own strength and ourselves because of sin. And it’s what we know and what we can control. But when our foundation is God, our lives are so intertwined with His will and desires that we are less likely to revert to our own strength and experience in moments when we need to let Him move us
God is present always
Why does this matter? Because when God is only there when we call on Him, we are walking away from Him during those intermittent times. We feel far from Him because we’ve walked towards whatever else we’re prioritizing, and left God in the dust. But, when we put all of our proverbial eggs in God’s metaphorical basket, we are with Him always. He is present in each and every THING.
Prayer becomes an ongoing conversation rather than a scheduled event.
Worship is no longer limited to Sunday mornings where we get bogged down by our opinions on how it should go, it becomes a daily way of gratitude and reverence.
Decisions are made through the lens of faith, rather than just our personal whims.
Seeing God as the foundation rather than just the top of our priorities changes everything. Instead of striving to reach Him, we live in the reality that He is already with us, guiding and sustaining us in all we do. Our faith is no longer a compartment of life but the very core of who we are.
When God is our foundation, our work, relationships, and daily activities become infused with His presence and purpose. We are no longer trying to balance life’s demands while keeping God at the top; instead, we are building everything on Him, knowing that He is our strength, our wisdom, and our source of life.
So, instead of asking, “Is God at the top of my priority list?” ask, “Is my life built upon Him?” Because when God is our foundation, everything else falls into its rightful place. It’s almost like that’s His intention for us (insert winky face).