“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33

The word priority means: the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important. Or the right to take precedence or to proceed before others.

When something is a priority, it shapes everything else around it. It determines what gets our best time, our best focus, and our best energy. So the question is not whether we have priorities; we all have them. As Jeff Vanderstelt says, we all worship something.  The greater question is, where does God fall among our priorities? A life connected to God in the modern age is nearly impossible if we leave it only to the leftover margins of our time. When our schedules overflow with work, deadlines, and distractions, God can easily slip from the center to the edges. We pray for a few minutes when we’re tired…

We open our Bibles (or Bible app) when we can “find a moment”… We give Him the weary scraps of our day, and then wonder why our hearts feel empty. But, I am talking about those “other” people… not you…and definitely not me… *cough*

But God never asked for leftovers. He asked for first fruits, the first and best part of our lives. This isn’t just about money. It’s about our attention, affection, and availability. When we give God our first, everything else begins to find its rightful place. The question is: How do we avoid being so caught up in the work, the duties, and the endless lists that we lose the most important part, which is our connection with God? It’s about protecting what really matters. Our time and attention need boundaries and rhythm. When the pace quickens, when the demands rise, when the stress goes up, prayer and worship are often the first to go. But that’s when we need them most. Jesus Himself modeled this. In the height of His ministry—when crowds pressed in, when people begged for healing, when His time was not His own—He withdrew to lonely places and prayed. He didn’t wait for leftover time. He made time. He prioritized the presence of His Father over every demand.

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Luke 5:16

Our connection with God grows best when it is tended with intentional and regular practices that create space for His presence to seep into our weary places. Things like: Daily prayer, time in Scripture, moments of quiet surrender, and choosing worship over worry. When we make room for God, He fills that room with peace, direction, and renewal. Abiding doesn’t happen accidentally. It happens by choice. We have to purposefully remain in the practice of the way of resting in the Spirit.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
John 15:4

This is what I have challenged myself to focus on again…and again…and again… It’s a constant battle, really…  So I challenge you as well. Take inventory of your time this week. Where does God fit in: first or last? Does He get your best attention or what’s left after everything else?

Try it with me

• Begin each day by giving God the first 10 minutes. (Before the phone, before the news, before the noise.)
• Offer a prayer of gratitude and surrender before sleep.
• Protect one window of time each week to simply be still in His presence.

Make space and watch what happens when you give God the first instead of the leftovers. Because when He is your priority, everything else falls into place beneath His hand.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”
James 4:8