Top priority
The 3rd Sunday in Lent
God said:
Solomon, I’m pleased that you asked for this. You could have asked to live a long time or to be rich. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom to make right decisions. So I’ll make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived or ever will live. ~ 1 Kings 3:11-12 (CEV)
But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. ~ Matthew 6:33 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Make God's agenda your first priority and he will bless you with more than you can imagine to ask.
PRAYER:
Wise and generous God, thank you for including me in your agenda. I confess to the struggle I have of including your agenda in my life. Grant me the wisdom and energy I need to reprioritize my life so that it all lines up with your agenda. I am going to strive to pursue Jesus and his kingdom as my top priority. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
