Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 

John 4:34  ESV

whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

1John 2:6  

Recurrent Thought

Priorities define a person; and priorities help one to fulfill their dreams.

Jesus was driven by clear priorities. He lived with clear, eternal priorities. He was never distracted by the applause of men, nor by the pressures of His time. His life was centered on what truly mattered before God. He was driven to fulfill purpose. A driven person is a goal-oriented individual who stubbornly focuses on achieving an envisaged success. Driven individuals embody behaviors that include dedication, focus, discipline and a willingness to make sacrifices for the sake of reaching their goals. They tenaciously work hard in order to push towards the fulfillment of their goals. They are driven towards their targets. One major characteristics of Driven People is their ability to set clear priorities and thereafter aggressively pursue their fulfillment. To Prioritize is to treat something as being most important and/or categorize it relative to its importance

Prioritizing activities for a purpose of reaching goals is the essential mode of operation for those who accomplish assignments, achieve visions and fulfill purposes in life. Setting correct and clear Priorities is a hallmark of great achievers. This stems on a plain and simple wisdom: you can’t be a master of all things. As you mature in life, you are presented with lots of possible to pursue in life; however, wisdom dictates that you choose those that will allow you to fulfil what you discern as the purpose and destiny for your life.  Additionally, when you grow older you get only in very few possible things to pursue. Setting Priorities is key to vision implementation. Prioritization makes you focus on things that are important and essential above those that are urgent, cosmetic and most times irrelevant. Setting priorities improves decision making skills, gives clarity and a sense of control on the process of reaching your goals, enhances resource management.

Jesus is a model for all humanity. Priorities that he pursued are a good template for  any Christ devoted follower (1 John 2:6). Today we reflect on the five priorities that marked Jesus and how they must shape our lives as His disciples. However, the list does not claim any ranking at all (Jesus did not reveal the ranking to me.

Five Major Priorities that Marked the life of Jesus Christ

1. Driven by the Will of the Father (John 4:34)
   • Christ lived not to please Himself, but to fulfill perfectly the will of the Father.
   • He placed the Father’s Will Above His Own (Luke 22:42: “Not my will, but thine, be done.” In Gethsemane, Jesus surrendered His human will to the divine plan.
   • He demonstrated true loyalty to the will of the Father. This in essence a quality of True discipleship, which entails submitting our plans to God’s will.
   • Indeed, to follow Christ is to exchange my will for the Father’s plan.”
   • Jesus was sold out to follow the demands and will of the father. He demonstrated obedience in every step. His actions were aligned with divine approval.
   • Joh 8:28  So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.
   • Joh 8:29  And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
   • He even demonstrated obedience in difficult decisions such as giving himself to a death on the cross. Indeed, the Cross was the culmination of total obedience.
   • Driven people sacrifice for the ultimate good.
   • Php 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross
   • The will of God was fulfilled in His sacrificial death. Sometimes obedience to God demands sacrifice.
   • Application:
   • As a Christ-devoted follower, your life must be driven to do the Will of God.
   • You must come to the place where you celebrate doing the will of God.
   • Declare my Food is to do the will of him who sent me
2.   Life Anchored in Prayer
   • One major Priority practically demonstrated by Jesus was a life steeped in Prayer.
   • His ministry began in prayer (Luke 3:21) and ended in prayer (Luke 23:46).
   • The Spirit led Him into the wilderness (Luke 4:1), where He founded His ministry with 40 days of fasting and prayer. 
   • It was noted that the busier He became, the more He slipped away to pray (Mark 6:31).
   • He prayed before every major decision he made (Luke 6:12).
   • Over 45 passages in the Gospels record how Jesus often slipped away to pray (Luke 5:16)
   • Application
   • Prayer reveals our reliance on God’s presence and power. How much do you pray? How deep is your connection with God?
   • No matter Your vocation and assignment you pursue in life, Prayer must be You Priority
3.     Driven by the Spirit
   • Jesus fully dependent upon the Holy Spirit. 
   • Every aspect of the His life was saturated by the Spirit of God. He was filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:1, 14; John 3:34), sealed by the Spirit (John 6:27), led by the Spirit (Luke 4:1), rejoiced in the Spirit (Luke 10:21),
   • He was conceived by the Spirit and was anointed by the same Spirit without measure. (Luke 1:35; 4:18; Acts 10:38; Isaiah 61:1),
   • He gave commands (Acts 1:2) and performed miracles by the power of the Spirit
   • Application
   • You can’t be a person born of the spirit, but who does not follow his leadership and directions
   • The Spirit of God is available to be a constant companion for you at every stage of your life
4. Driven by the Word of God (Matthew 4:4)
   • One of the Priorities of Jesus in life and ministry was to understand and declare the word of God correctly.
   • To him the Word of God was Spiritual Food essential to sustain life (Matthew 4:4: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
   • The Word of God guided him in all his life. It was the source of strength when he was tempted or when he was abandoned.
   • Notice how he survived his trials as revealed at the beginning of his ministry. He depended on the nourishment provided by the Word of God.
   • The Word was the Basis of His Teaching (Luke 4:16–21). He constantly quoted from the Scriptures that were handled down from past generations.  Remember when he read Isaiah and said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled.” His ministry was rooted in the Word, not in human traditions.
   • Jesus demonstrated that the “The authority of preaching is not in the preacher’s voice, but in God’s Word.”
   • Jesus was driven by the Word as the Standard of Truth (John 17:17). He stated that the Word of God cleanses and sanctifies. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” On this basis He interceded for His disciples asking their sanctification by the Word.
   • The Word of God is a powerful too that separates us from the world and conforms us to God’s holiness. “The Word doesn’t just inform; it transforms.”
   • Application
   • A maturing Christ devoted follower increasingly grow on their intake and dependence on the Word of the Lord
   • The Study of the Word becomes a priority to nourish their spirits and also accelerate their transformation
5. Driven by the Salvation of the Lost (Luke 19:10)
   • To Jesus the supreme priority was to seek and save that which was lost. The The Lost Were His Mission
   • Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
   • There are many stories that show how Jesus was bent to seek the Lost with passion. One such event is when Jesus sought out Zacchaeus
   • It is essential for us to see how Jesus was driven by His mission. If Jesus lived for the lost, how can the church ignore evangelism?  “A church without mission is a contradiction to Christ’s purpose.”
   • His Priority Number One was seen through his Compassion for the Multitudes
   • Mat 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd
   • Watch the wording: These were not just crowds, but souls needing direction.
   • Ultimately, Jesus was Driven by the Priority of Sacrifice for Souls. The Cross is the Supreme Act of Salvation (John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son...”)
   • The Eternal Truth that demands reckoning is that the Salvation of humanity cost the life of the Son of God.
   • The historical fact stands that “the cross is the proof that saving the lost was Christ’s ultimate priority.”
   • Application
   • Christ devoted followers do not Sacrifice their lives to redeem sinners; but they sacrifice their resources so that the gospel reach those who are lost.
   • Every believer, whatever their vocation and destiny in life, they must keep as a Priority Number One to Win Souls and disciple believers

Conclusion

The life of Jesus teaches us that priorities define a person and accelerates one to their destiny.