Kingdom Principles

The Priority of the Kingdom

tragedy, to think that the basic priority driving most humans is that of simple survival! Would it surprise you to learn that most religions are built around the promise to meet these very same needs as a priority? Meeting human needs is the premise of all religions. One common denominator of all religions is the effort to please or appease some deity in order to secure basic needs such as a good harvest, favor able weather, protection from enemies, etc. Another factor that all religions have in common is that their primary focus is on the needs of the worshiper. Priority in religious prayers and petitions is for personal needs. Human needs drive religion. Much of what we call “faith” is nothing more than striving for the very things on Maslow’s list. THE PRIORITY OF GOD God established His priority at the beginning of creation and made it clear by His own declaration to mankind. Jesus Christ came to earth and reestablished God’s number-one priority. Should it sur prise us to discover that God’s priority for mankind is completely opposite to man’s priorities? Let us read God’s priority for mankind as stated by the Lord Jesus. During His first discourse introducing His mission and primary message, Jesus established God’s priority for all mankind with several powerful and straightforward state ments:

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).

Notice that this statement directly challenges Maslow’s hierar chy of needs and contradicts its order. Jesus’ statement also exposes man’s defective priority and confirms our preoccupation with the

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