Have you ever wandered what Jesus meant when He said in Mark 6:33, "seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you"?  Being a product of the church, there are certain scriptures that most everyone in the church knows.  This is one of those passages - we sing it, we quote it, we write about it ... but do we really live it?

In summer of 2009 I released a CD titled "Surrender".  That title song was written when I was at a crossroads in my Christian walk.  I was running around singing songs about the kingdom of God and quoting the scripture, but I was not fully living up to Mark 6:33.  The kingdom was not the first thing on my mind when I woke up or when I went to sleep.  I had a CD to sell and gigs to book.  In the process, I started studying up on the kingdom of God.  I went through and read the new testament a few times underlining every reference to the kingdom of God.

As a result, I live my life much differently.  It's all about the kingdom.  I'm a worship leader,  singer, songwriter, and writer, BUT all of those titles fall subject to the title of the King and His kingdom.  I do not live my life to build my own empire or kingdom, but to bring glory to God.  I've adopted some new habits in life.  In fact, I've gone through and replaced my bad habits with one good habit - seeking first the kingdom of God.  The words that I used to speak are different today - I'm learning to speak the Word more.  I'm waking up each morning and putting "first things first" by spending time in prayer and reading the Word of God.  I'm hearing His voice clearer now than ever before.  One cool thing I discovered through my mom is a website called www.soakingwithapurpose.com.  I find worship songs there and just pray and worship as I have it playing in the background.  There's one song that lasts for 45 minutes and so I'm giving God those moments for the duration of the song to simply worship.  Remember to put first things first.  All of the things you're desiring will not "be added unto you" if you're not first seeking the kingdom.  You may discover that some of the things you are "seeking" may not line up with the one thing we should be seeking most of all -  spending time in the presence of God.

Eric Lige