“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
— Jesus
“When everything is a priority, nothing is.”
— George McKeown
A FRAGMENTED LIFE
I was sitting across the table from a dear friend over coffee this past week. We were catching up, talking about life, family, work, and what faithfulness looks like in the middle of it all.
We shared about the chaos of each of our current season. For me it’s three kids under the age of four, a newborn in the house, what at times feels like a thousand needs at once pulling in every direction. The conversation drifted, as it often does these days, toward the difficulty of balance in modern life.
We began to ask ourselves, how are we to prioritize all the demands of our lives?
We didn’t come up with any absolutes or witty one liners that would carry us through. Rather we seemingly concluded that this feeling was just a feature of the seasons that we are in with our families.
We went our separate ways, but as I drove home that morning, a thought resurfaced from something I read years ago. A buried etymology that was now demanding my attention.
The word priority was never meant to be plural.
THE PLURALIZATION OF PRIORITY
In the 1400s, when the word priority first entered the English language, it was singular. It comes from the Latin prioritas, meaning “first in rank or order”—the one thing of supreme importance. Not one of many. Just one.
For hundreds of years, that’s how the word was used. Because by definition, there could only be one thing that was the “first”. You couldn’t have multiple “firsts.” You could have a priority. Not priorities.
It wasn’t until the rise of industrialized efficiency in the early 1900s that we began to pluralize it. Suddenly, we had priorities. As if by changing the grammar, we could change the nature of reality.
And so we did. Or at least, we tried.
We now segment our lives like buckets: faith, family, finances, fitness, friendships. Each one gets a portion of our attention. We tell ourselves we’re being responsible. That we’re “balancing” it all.
But underneath the surface, most of us are exhausted. Because we’re not living with clarity. We’re living in fragmentation.
We’ve traded the weight of a singular pursuit for the constant churn of competing demands.
And if we are honest, our souls are drowning in the tyranny of many.
JESUS WASN'T ONE OF MANY
When Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, He didn’t say, “Make me one of your top three priorities.”
He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
Jesus doesn’t ask to be a priority. He asks to be the priority.
He is not a compartment in your planner. He is the organizing principle of your existence.
He knows nothing of being worked into your schedule. He is the author of time who created the calendar.
To follow Jesus means that everything else in life, every role, every responsibility, and every relationship must be reordered beneath His lordship.
This is not just theological theory. It’s the prescription for how Christian life is supposed to function.
When you read the Sermon on the Mount, you don’t walk away with a checklist.
You walk away with a framework.
A call to a radically re-centered life. A life where the kingdom of God is not one priority among many—but the singular lens through which everything else is viewed.
LIVING UNDER THE ILLUSION
We often say things like, “God is my top priority,” but our lives often tell a different story.
If someone followed you around for a week—if they watched your habits, your conversations, your late-night scrolling—what would they say your true priority is?
Where do your best hours go?
Where does your mind wander when it's free?
What do you rearrange everything else around?
For many of us, if we are honest, it’s not Jesus. It’s career advancement. Or family logistics. Or financial security. Or influence. Good things...but tyrants when they take the place of the King.
We are over-committed and under-aligned. We say yes to too many things, while holding to the hope that a fragmented faith will still produce an abundant life.
But the message is clear. It doesn’t work that way.
Jesus doesn’t want a slice of your time. He wants your whole life. And from that place of singular devotion, every good and necessary thing finds its proper place.
A BETTER WAY: SEEK FIRST
Jesus doesn’t call us to balance. He calls us to surrender.
“Seek first the kingdom” isn’t a poetic suggestion—it’s a directive.
It’s an invitation. An invitation into a life of clarity, focus, and peace. A life where our hearts are no longer divided. A life where the chaos of many is replaced by the simplicity of one holy pursuit.
This kind of life isn’t smaller—it’s richer.
It’s the kind of life where your marriage isn’t just about surviving—it becomes a picture of the gospel.
Where your parenting isn’t reactive—it’s intentional, purposeful, and full of grace.
Where your work becomes more than a paycheck—it becomes a platform for kingdom influence.
Where your time isn’t swallowed up by obligations—but soaked in presence, joy, and worship.
Putting Jesus at the center doesn’t shrink your life.
He expands it.
Because when He is first, everything else begins to flourish under His rule and reign.
RHYTHMS OF GRACE
A life with Jesus as the singular priority is not about rigidity—it’s about rhythm.
It’s not a life of burnout. It’s a life of overflow.
You begin your days not with anxious striving, but surrendered expectation.
You find joy in ordinary moments because He meets you there.
You make decisions with confidence because you’re anchored in His wisdom.
You stop living for the approval of others because His love has already named you.
This is the freedom of first things first.
A FINAL CHARGE
The tyranny of many is subtle.
It feels like wisdom. It looks like responsibility.
But over time, it wears down your soul. It pulls you in a thousand directions and gives you nothing to stand on.
So here’s the call: Break free from the myth of balance. Live with a holy singularity.
You were never meant to carry the crushing weight of a fragmented life.
You were made for wholeheartedness.
And the good news is this: Jesus doesn’t just demand to be your priority—He empowers you to live that way. He gives you His Spirit. He gives you grace. He invites you to a life that is lighter, fuller, and truer.
So take inventory.
Not to shame yourself. But to recalibrate the deepest desire of your heart: Him.
Seek first the kingdom. Not as one more thing on your list, but as the center of everything else.
Because when He is first—peace follows.
Purpose follows.
Presence follows.
You don’t need more buckets. You need one center.
Let Jesus have it.
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