Searching with Priority

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

I lost my cup of coffee this morning. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, even as I write this it seems kind of silly, but it was a big deal; a BIG deal. I couldn't figure out where I put it! I had it in my hand, I took a sip, and then... well, I put it down somewhere, to do something, and when I went to take another sip, it was .... well, gone. I hadn't even left the room. I retraced my steps from the sofa to the window, from the window to the chair, to the table, and back to the sofa. I hadn't gone anywhere else -- oh wait, I went to get the newspaper. I must have set it down outside on the front porch... but no, it wasn't there either. Where was my coffee! My mouth was waiting for those last few sips that were waiting -- cooling --- in the cup. My day was getting away from me -- I had important things that I needed to get done, I didn't have time for this --yet, where was my coffee?

I couldn't get past it. Now, it isn't like I couldn't make more coffee, or that I didn't have more cups in the cupboard, but I was obsessed! I wanted that cup of coffee -- where was it? In the end after searching, retracing my steps, mentally processing everything I had done, everywhere I had gone, looking high, low, and in between, and just as I got to the point of despair, eureka! my cup peeked out behind the potted plant. I still don't remember putting it there, nor can I imagine why I would put it there -- but it didn't matter, especially as I savored those last couple sips of java.

I've been contemplating what it means to "seek first the kingdom of God." What does it mean to "seek"? It's not a word we use a lot -- we look for things, we search for things, but to "seek" -- what does that mean? According to the dictionary it means:

To try to locate or discover; to search for. To endeavor to obtain or reach; to go to or toward. To inquire after; to try; to set one's eye on. To explore. To grab out to, to quest for.

Like my search for my coffee. A quest that will not stop until it reaches its destination or acquisition. I wonder how intensely I seek for God's kingdom, for a right relationship and perspective (righteousness) with Him... as intensely as I searched for my coffee this morning?

But Matthew 6 says to seek first God's Kingdom. Not just intense searching, but priority searching! Jesus says that our top priority in time, place, importance, and order is His Kingdom, and His righteousness. This morning, my day just could not continue until I found that coffee. My coffee starts my day, it wakes me up, perks me up, it clears the cobwebs from the night and sets my mind on today. I wonder, what would my day look like if it didn't begin -- I mean, it truly could not begin until I was firmly planted, heart, mind, and soul in God's Kingdom perspective, plan, and presence?