FIRST, SEEK THIS
Ken lived in the corporate world. Business meetings, interstate trips, spreadsheets, balance sheets, and long hours - very long hours. Ken's family though were paying a price for his high income. In the helter-skelter of his hectic lifestyle, Ken didn't quite make it to church with his family as often as he knew he should, until one surprising Sunday. It would be wrong to think that he got it right everytime from that day, he still had one more hard lesson to learn.
¶ "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"
Matthew 6:25
Ken justified his high-powered work-life by telling himself, and his wife and children, that he was "doing it for them." Being a Christian, he even justified his spiritual irresponsibility to God with all the predictable excuses. But then that day came. It was a Sunday. Ken went with his family to church that Sunday. He used to take them to church before he rose up the dizzing heights of the corporate ladder. It wasn't what was said, taught, or preached that Sunday - but it was what Ken heard that wrought the change.
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Matthew 6:27
A SHIFT
Ken was a corporate tax accountant. And he was good at it. He considered himself a sincere and committed Christian. Being in church on this particular Sunday, something in Ken's soul was being strangely stirred. He began to pray. He reconnected with God with some slight hesitation. His Bible was open on his lap at Matthew chapter 6 when he heard God speak softly to his soul. "Get your priorities right" he heard God say. "How?" his heart replied. "God first, family second, work third."
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
Matthew 6:31
God first, Family second, and Work third. This became Ken's new mantra. He realised that to put God first he had to make an adjustment to his daily and Sunday priorities. He committed to read his Bible first thing everyday and attend church with his family every Sunday. This required a change in work patterns because he often brought work home and worked all weekend to get ready for important Monday morning meetings. But no more. Well, nearly no more as I'll explain shortly.
¶ "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Matthew 6:34 The Message
T-BALL, SORRY
Ken's new mantra of priorities was soon tested. He had a client that had just been told they were going to receive a snap Tax Audit first thing Monday. They needed Ken to prepare the books which meant he would have to work this particular weekend. But he had already made a commitment to his young son that this Saturday morning he would take him to his T-ball game and watch him play. He tried to explain to his son why he couldn't go to his game. His disappointed son left for his uneventful match. Meanwhile, Ken tried to work on his client's books all that morning but couldn't make any significant progress. Sighing in frustration he heard, "God first, Family second, Work third." "God, are You saying that if I'd put my family before work and gone to my son's T-ball game, I would have this problem solved?" Ken knew the answer and left his work to try and catch the dying the minutes of his son's game. He then took his son out for a special father and son lunch. Later that day he rang his client on the other side of the country and apologised that he wouldn't be able to get their books done in time. They were extremely disappointed and threatened to take their business elsewhere. But Monday morning Ken received a call from the client. They told him that the Tax Office had just contacted them and told them their Tax Audit would be delayed by a week. They asked Ken to continue his work for them. After that call, Ken whispered yet another prayer to God, this time apologising and confessing his failure to get his priorities right. He remembered the verse from Matthew 6 that stood out to him that Sunday from his Bible on his lap-
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
Ken came to realise that time with his family in church as they worshipped together was one of the greatest ways he could lead his wife and children. Rather than keep him from getting things done either at work or at home, Ken found that God seemed to honour him for putting Him first and his family second.
A SUDDEN END
Ken had learned some valuable lessons. He changed his priorities. He became involved in his local church. His fears that his new priorities would harm his business become unfounded. In fact, he told people that he now felt the blessing of God on his life and business and that time in church was time sown into God (and you always reap what you sow - which is good news for gardeners and those who feel they don't have enough time to maintain their homes). He began to receive invitations from other churches to share his story. He shared his simple list of priorities- God first, Family second, and Work third - and thousands of business people adopted his mantra and changed their priorities. He began receiving testimonies from people all over the world telling him that he had given them the courage to put God first, their Family second and their work third.
Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Matthew 6:33 The Message
I was a teenager when I first heard Ken. His story was inspiring and impressive. His priority-mantra was contagious. I have tried to emulate it. To my shame, I have not always kept it. But it is my goal.
I was stunned to hear some time ago that Ken had suddenly died. Even though he didn't know it, his life would soon be over. He lived out his last days putting God first, his Family second and his Work third. Life's brevity and lack of guarantees has a way of highlighting a person's poor priorities. But Ken was fortunate because it wasn't a health scare that shocked him into reorganising his priorities - it was the Word of God. And it is from the Word of God that we find that Ken's list of priorities didn't originate with him.
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:33 NLT
Ps. Andrew
I've just returned from an interstate trip where I interviewed two elderly men for the upcoming FW Boreham Documentary. Both of these gentlemen were in their nineties and had been friends for over 70 years. After from sitting under the preaching of F.W. Boreham, they had many other things in common, but their one joint passion was for their local church and their Saviour. These men radiated the presence of Christ and such there was something peculiarly attractive about them. This was the same with the first followers of Christ as well.
Jesus chose to be represented by people. These representatives are called the Church. The genius of having people represent you, is that you reach more people. In this episode in John 12 where these Greeks say to the disciples, "We wish to see Jesus", there is something very profound going on. Over the years I've heard many preachers use this passage to say that people often get in the way of other people seeing Jesus. "The church should just get away of people wanting to see Jesus", they preach. But the problem with that conclusion from this text in John 12 illustrates the exact opposite point. Far from followers of Christ being a hindrance to people seeing Jesus, followers of Christ are the means by which people come to see Jesus. 
This Sunday we will have people join with us who have never been to church. These people are not interested in becoming religious. They are not coming to be controlled or duped. They have, however, been given a glimpse of their true need and painfully come to realise that stuff, although momentarily numbing, does not (because it can not) meet this need. They've discovered that what the world calls medicine is actually the very poison that made them terminally ill in the first place. They need to see Jesus. They have come to where He can be found. As the followers of Christ assemble to worship Jesus, people are drawn to Him. 
After I met with these two veteran followers of Christ to film them for the FWB documentary, they chatted about their church (Kew Baptist Church). Russell, who enjoyed better health than Keith, warmly invited Keith to come to their next Chat and Chew outreach morning. Russell then turned to his pastor, Nick, and told him how he had been encouraging his great-granddaughter to come along to church. There are some who have grown fed-up with the church. Through their immature response to some offense they have chosen to despise the flawed followers of Christ like you and me, and have instead justified their detachment from the Body of Christ as somehow being more spiritual, and even more Biblical. This is sad and unnecessary. When these Greeks wanted to see Jesus, they came to His flawed disciples. And Philip and Andrew then brought them to Jesus. In the next verse, Jesus announced that the hour had come for the Him to be glorified. When people are drawn to Jesus because of His followers, He is glorified. 
When I was growing up, we thought we had the option of three careers: fireman, policeman, or an astronaut. (I added the little-known fourth option, professional tennis player, to this list, even though I was "junior cop" for an embarrassing season.) While I was committed to the fourth option, many found a fifth. But that was then and this is now. Sometimes we face situations where we think we only have one or maybe two options. This is rarely, if ever, the truth of the matter. You have options.
The other day I was having breakfast with some other pastors in our city. We were discussing what the greatest needs of our city were. We noted that the Launceston City Mission was doing an outstanding job with in working with the city's poor and homeless. But we wondered whether there were any greater practical needs in our city that we as Christian leaders might need to be aware of and respond to. My colleague shared how he was now dealing with increasing numbers of distressed people. He said that this seemed to be indicative of our community's mental health becoming unhealthier. "We have solutions for homelessness. We have solutions for family-breakdowns. We have solutions for teen-pregnancies. But we are yet to adequately grapple with the deteriorating mental health of our community" he said. Shortly after this I had several medical doctors tell me that most of their patients now present them with significant mental health issues. One GP even told me that much of what he now does in his consulting rooms is actually clinical mental-health, rather than medicine. And Christians are not immune from this. Here's why. 
Some understand that the Bible teaches believers to seek God for every decision they have to make. Seeking God is indeed what the Bible teaches. But rather than seeking God for His decision on the options before us, we are told to seek God for the wisdom so that we can wisely decide between our options. For believers who do not understand this and expect God to make their decisions for them, this lack of certainty regarding what His decision for them is can even be an added source of increased stress! This is potentially very damaging to a person's mental health. Not only does the believer face the stress of selecting the best option before them, they often add to this stress by thinking that God has to reveal the right choice to them. This leads them to believe that hearing from God is supremely mysterious and tricky. When they struggle to hear from God it raises niggling doubts that maybe God doesn't love them, or hasn't fully forgiven them. They read the Scriptures, which talk about the peace of God, and the renewal of their mind, but their own experience of anxiety and confusion conflicts with what they see promised in the Bible. This shows us that mental health, even for Christians, is not a trivial matter and certainly does not have simplistic answers. But when Christians are given simplistic solutions (as distinct from Biblically "simple" solutions) is it any wonder then that more and more Christians are now experiencing mental anguish to the extent that they require prescribed medicating? I am not suggesting that Christians diagnosed with mental health challenges shouldn't take prescribed medication, but I am questioning whether it should be the first response and immediate course of action.
Peace with God is made possible by the grace of God. This grace is made effective in our souls from the moment that God in His grace reveals Himself and His offer of forgiveness for our sins through Christ to us. We do nothing to earn this revelation. We do nothing to qualify for this associated gift of repentance. We do nothing to regenerate our dead and dormant spirits to life and union with Christ. We do nothing to now be considered the adopted child of God. If we did anything to merit any of these benefits and components of salvation, our salvation would not be by grace! Therefore, once we have been made alive in Christ what can we do to "un-earn" something we never "earned" in the first place? If more Christians understood that the basis of God's love toward them is not whether they are good enough or not, but the righteousness of Christ bestowed graciously upon them, there would literally be more Christians enjoying God rather than trying to appease Him. Understanding God's grace does wonders for your mental health.