"First Priority"

"And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils." Mark 3:14,15

Doing the work of the Lord may not always be a good thing. Let me explain. When it takes you away from the Lord Himself, it certainly is not the best thing. His first priority, will and plan for your life is to "be with Him". Even ahead of the works. The works that we do in service for the Lord- the ministry, the labors, fulfilling the call He has placed on our lives- is of great importance. Jesus did the work of the Father while He was here on earth and did not neglect it- and neither should we. But the work should always remain secondary and first place given to our relationship with God. When I read the verse above, this is the picture that I get. Jesus ordained the twelve (look at the order in which these verses were written), first- "that they should be with him", second, that they might go and do the works of the Kingdom. Besides how can you be effective at doing His work unless you are spending time with Him and seeking Him first. Again, Jesus always made sure that He had time alone with the Father first and then went and did the works.

When it came to serving the Lord or drawing near into His presence, we are told that drawing into His presence is the better of the two- it's the "good part". (Remember the story of Mary and Martha.) Even Paul, one of the greatest evangelist, said his goal was "to know Him", and he was constantly pressing toward that mark- knowing Him is the prize of the high calling.

I am not suggesting that we don't do the work of the Lord, works are a demonstration of our faith, they are part of our calling, they need to be demonstrated to the world, and they glorify God. I am just reminding you that He is more important than what you do for Him. Spending time with Him is more important than spending time working for Him. Getting to know Him is more important than serving Him. Jesus came to reconcile us back into right relationship with God. And that was because He loved us so much that He wanted us to be with Him and where He was.

Have a great day. Doing the works of the Lord is good, but spending time with Him is better, and the first priority.

For further reading:
Matthew 6:33
Philippians 3:10;14
2 Corinthians 5:19
John 14:3
Luke 10:38-42