The Center of the Christian Life: Seeking God’s Kingdom First

“Now what?” 

It’s the question I imagine was on the minds of the disciples as they stood staring into the sky at Bethany. For about three years, give or take, they had been following Jesus—from Galilee and fishing boats to Jerusalem and Calvary.  

They knew the unfathomable pain of grief from his death, and then the unimaginable exhilaration of seeing him raised from the dead! The days between had been defined by living, loving, and learning with Jesus face-to-face. They may have reflected on the teachings they heard, the miracles they witnessed, and the quiet conversations with the Master as they walked along a country road. 

But now he had been “received up into heaven” and seated “at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19, ESV).  

“What happens now?”

Spokes in a Wheel?

How can we best understand what daily life should look like as Christians?

I remember having a conversation with someone many years ago about these questions. As we talked, he offered a “word picture” of our lives being like a wheel, made up of individual spokes, like a bicycle. In his analogy, the spokes were the key aspects of our lives—faith, family, career, and other areas of life. For him, these parts of life needed to remain in balance so that our “wheel” of life could “roll” smoothly.

Neither one of us was trying to revolutionize the world’s understanding of Christian living, thankfully. We didn’t. We were just two guys who wanted to love and serve God the best we could.  

But as we continued talking, I was picturing these “spokes of the wheel” in my mind. I imagined the career spoke next to the faith spoke next to the family spoke. We wouldn’t want any of these to be “out of balance” with the others. But is every spoke as important, as essential, as another?

First Things First

Even as we wait for Jesus to return and establish his Kingdom, we have lives to live now for our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. The first Christians did as well. 

The gospel of the Kingdom is to be proclaimed. There are prayers to pray, praises to offer, and countless other ways to serve God.

But that means we have questions just like those original disciples: 

• What are we supposed to do? 
• How do we do it?
• And especially, what do we do first?

Jesus Told Us Where to Start

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33, ESV). 

We may not understand exactly how every aspect of our Christian walk should be ordered, but we do know what should be placed first: God’s Kingdom and righteousness. 

The passage above can be found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which shows us many important things about what life as his disciples should look like. At the beginning of Matthew 5, he opens the sermon with what we now call the “Beatitudes”—describing the character and blessings of those who belong to God’s Kingdom. Throughout the sermon, Jesus addresses many dimensions of Kingdom living, including persecution, relationships, love, righteousness, compassion, prayer, and generosity.

He even teaches about how to approach God and talk to Him, giving us the beautiful, inspiring words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–10, ESV). Notice that the Kingdom is the first thing we Christians are to ask for, after praising (hallowing) our Father’s name!

The immediate context of Matthew 6:33 is telling as well. It comes right after Jesus addresses basic needs such as food and clothing—the “spokes” of our wheel of life. He then makes his stunning declaration to put God’s Kingdom first, and “all these things will be added to you [lit. come after]” (Matthew 6:33b, ESV).

The Unbalanced Wheel

“And the life I live now […] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, ESV).

We don’t do the Christians of the New Testament, or ourselves, any favors when we think of them as mere one-dimensional Bible “characters” like the cutout pictures we used to have on our feltboards in Sunday School. 

When we look at these fathers and mothers of our faith more closely, we see the truth—the ones who served Jesus first had the same types of challenges and struggles that we do. The apostle Paul, whom we quote above, was at one time a self-described “blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent [of the things of God]” (1 Timothy 1:13b, ESV). 

His introduction to us in the Scriptures in Acts 7 is far from glorious, as he stood witness to Stephen’s death. In fact, he was so driven in those days to stop the preaching of the gospel that he sought authority to extend his persecution “on the road” to other cities beyond Jerusalem! 

The reason Paul was on the road to Damascus—where his famous conversion in Acts 9 takes place—is precisely because he wanted to strengthen his “career spoke.” He was zealously pursuing what he believed was his duty before God. His priorities needed to be transformed. In a very real sense, God had to reorder the center of Paul’s life. Paul’s focus—his center for life—changed when he was confronted with the gospel of Christ. 

Whatever Paul’s temptations, sins, flaws, or failures had been, God would—and did—shape Paul into the man who gives the amazing confession that we read above. Paul’s life has been transformed. As he says, “the life I now live” is lived by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20, ESV). That’s a powerful recognition. 

We should understand that just as it was true of Paul, it is true of us. Our wheels of life may be a little misshapen at times. They may wobble and shake. But God has a better way.

It’s About The Hub, Not The Spokes

Picture a car. A wheel is useful only when it is connected to the rest of the vehicle. Each wheel is connected to a central hub around which the wheel rotates. Being attached to the hub keeps the wheel with the rest of the car. It keeps it in line, doing the job it’s supposed to do. 

Can you imagine trying to balance a delivery truck on top of one disconnected wheel? There is a reason that our packages are delivered using a good ol’ four-tire box truck rather than a unicycle. The central hub keeps the whole vehicle stable and moving forward.

Our Christian life needs a hub, too. And I believe our walk with God needs to be more than a part, or “spoke,” of our wheel of life. God, Jesus, and our hope in the coming Kingdom are to be at the center of our lives as Christians—the hub that holds everything together.

But what about all those other “spokes” of life—the things Jesus says will be added to us? Can we rely on God with those as well, once we have put first things first? I say yes! We can have great joy because, as Jesus promised, our Father knows what we need and will provide for us.

We live best when we cherish and nourish our connection to God through prayer and praise, as well as His Word and Spirit. We also have our Lord Jesus, our Great Mediator, Advocate, High Priest, and Good Shepherd, to hold onto daily. We must always remain focused on our hope—the coming Kingdom of God where righteousness will dwell forever (2 Peter 3:13)! May God bless you richly day by day as you walk with Him!

Want to dive deeper? Sign up for the upcoming Disciple Collective course on the Kingdom of God!