Tag: priority

Putting First Things Second (How the Mighty Fall Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For Part 1, “Mighty Presumption, click here.

Greatness comes from putting first things first. If you want to be a great basketball player, you have to master the core principles of the game—taking care of the ball, shooting high quality shots, and the like—and never lose sight of them. If you want to be a great engineer, you have to maintain a strong knowledge of geometry, algebra, and calculus. No amount of sweettalking will save you when your poorly designed bridge crumples. This same principle applies to great leadership.

In the book of 1 Samuel, the LORD commissions King Saul for his last God-given assignment, destroying the wicked Amalekites and razing everything they owned. Saul and his men did wipe out the Amalekites, but they “spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites, and spared the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed” (1 Samuel 15:9). The prophet Samuel was again called on to rebuke the king, and their conversation revealed the several ways King Saul failed as a leader.

Putting Humility Second

Samuel begins his chastisement by saying, “‘Although you once considered yourself unimportant’” (1 Samuel 15:17). There once was a time when King Saul was simply Saul. He was a mere farmer who worked the ground (1 Samuel 11:5). He was so afraid of leadership that he hid among a pile of baggage when his reign was announced (1 Samuel 10:20-22)! But power corrupted his view of himself. When Saul ascended the throne, he no longer saw himself as Saul the man, but Saul the king. And kings do whatever they please.

Jesus Himself affirmed that the heart of good leadership is not pleasing yourself but serving others. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (Matthew 20:26-27). No one with a proud heart will bend their backs to serve others.

Putting Purpose Second

Secondly, Saul lost sight of the reason God had given him this mission in the first place. When Samuel called him out for disobeying the voice of the LORD, Saul rebutted, “But I did obey the Lord…I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” Keep in mind that when an animal was sacrificed to the Lord during that time, the one who offered the sacrifice would then consume part of the offering themselves.

So easily, when success comes, we too can lose sight of our original vision. We can start a hospital to help, a nonprofit to serve, or a church to love. But when funds start pouring in, we can be tempted to help others and help ourselves, serve others and serve ourselves, love others yet love ourselves more. An organization without vision is like a lamp without oil, in mortal danger of being snuffed out (Revelation 2:4-5).  

Putting God Second

In desperation, Saul made one final plea. He cried, “‘I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice” (1 Samuel 15:24). Saul’s last excuse was that he was pressured into his actions by his followers.

When a leader becomes subject to the desires of their followers, they are no longer a leader. Leaders lead by definition. They point their followers to someone or something greater than themselves: a cause, an ideal, or a moral principle. In this case, King Saul and his subjects’ obedience to God would have demonstrated that they were the LORD’s people, driven not by material gain but spiritual truth. They would have fulfilled the greatest commandment: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’” (Mark 12:30). Instead, by giving into the masses, King Saul demonstrated that he loved the approval of others even more.

Conclusion

Greatness requires humility, purpose, and obedience to a higher calling. When we lost sight of any one of these, we won’t only lead ourselves astray, we’ll mislead all those who follow us. But when we maintain all of these in spite of success, riches, and fame, then we’ll truly be great leaders.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

(Matthew 16:33)

Expecting Much but Finding Little (Broken Hallelujah Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For Part 1 on “A Foundation of Rejoicing and Regret”, click here.

The Israelites returned to the ruins of Jerusalem in 538 BC. As soon as they reached their homeland, the LORD commanded them to rebuild Jerusalem and His temple. They took the command to rebuild the city to heart, resurrecting their homes and businesses as soon as they arrived. But they put the command to restore the LORD’s temple on hold. Haggai the prophet said, “‘The people are saying, “The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”’ Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: ‘Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins’” (Haggai 1:2-4 NLT)?

Expecting Much

The Israelites priorities were clear: their own health and well-being. They furnished fine homes for themselves and planted much seed for themselves hoping to achieve success for themselves. But here was the fruit of their labor: “‘You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it… You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why’” (Haggai 1:6,9a NLT)?

God not only didn’t assist their hard work, He actively opposed it. He worked to minimize their profit and increase their losses. Why indeed would a good God trouble His people as they strived to secure security and prosperity?

Finding Little

The rest of Haggai 1:9 says that the LORD blew away the reward for their labor “‘because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.’” There are two reasons the LORD opposed the Israelites’ efforts: priority and provision.

Jesus Himself said, “‘Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you’” (Matthew 6:33 ESV).  An honest inventory of our time, money, and energy would force many of us to admit that God is not number one on our lists. He may receive one day of our week and—in good months—one-tenth of our paycheck, but He is the moon to our world of self rather than the Sun we revolve around.

The reason why God often finds Himself second-best is because of worry. Our cratering economy pushes us to labor from the crack of dawn to midnight. Our strained marriages send us into a death spiral of heated arguments and cold shoulders. We need financial peace, relational peace, and bodily peace, so we strive to lay hold of these things before we find spiritual peace.

Jesus, right before speaking about priorities in Matthew 6:33 said, “‘Don’t worry about these things, saying, “What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?” These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs’” (Matthew 6:31-32 NLT).

Our God knows what we need better than we do, and chief among our list of necessities is not food, water, or shelter but our heavenly Father.

Finding Much

Once the Israelites finally prioritized building the LORD’s house over their own, the LORD told them, “‘“Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all!”… The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace’” (Haggai 2:3,9 NLT).

If we align our priorities with the Father’s, He’ll fill us with spiritual peace and restore the other areas of our lives. But we must have the faith to reorient ourselves from our worries to His temple.

“‘Think about this eighteenth day of December, the day when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid. Think carefully. I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.’”

(Haggai 2:18-19 NLT)