First Key: Commitment to God
Matthew 6:24-34
Chris Cutshall
Part of Keys to a Healthy Marriage
August 25, 2023

Moving closer to Christ…

Plato wrote something very interesting about love. He asked us to imagine a triangle. Along the base of that triangle, arrange everything in life that’s most important to us… As the base of the triangle rises toward the narrow top, the base gets smaller and smaller, leaving room for fewer and fewer things, forcing us to drop those things which are least important to us, so we can hold onto those things which are most important. Finally, when the apex of the triangle is reached, there is room for only one thing. Plato asked the question: “What is that one thing that you will hold onto after you have sacrificed all else?” If you’re a committed Christian, you will have to answer, “Jesus Christ!”

To be a Christ-follower, He must have

place! So much so that we can say, “I will hold on to Him even if all else must be sacrificed.” An all-in-Christ-follower always puts Christ first. And if Christ is first, that person will make a far better husband, wife, friend… For example, if a husband is committed to Christ and is moving closer to Him every day, and the wife is committed to Christ and is moving closer to Him daily, they will inevitably move closer to each other.

Are you holding on to that one thing? Is Jesus Christ at the apex? Are you sure about that? As we begin our study of The Keys to a Healthy Marriage, or if you’re single, Keys to a Healthy Life, understand the priority of the first key: Commitment to God is the first and foremost commandment and key to health in life and in marriage.

It is the

of priorities. If both you and your spouse don’t get this one right, you cannot have a healthy marriage. But what happens when you both fully commit yourselves to God and thereby fully cooperate with Him? What happens in the marriage? As you both move closer and closer to Christ the Healer, you move closer and closer to health, and you move closer and closer to each other.

Seek First God:

1. By saying NO to

(24).

“Serve” is literally “to be a

of.” A person can’t have two owners/masters. The Bible speaks of Jesus Christ as Master and of His followers as His bondslaves. Before we were saved, we were enslaved to our sinful, selfish wants. But as Jesus-Christ-followers, you can no more have two masters at the same time as you can walk in two directions at the same time. If you are fully devoted to the Lord of glory, then nothing else can claim your first-place-allegiance.

“Money” is personified here—Jesus breathes life into it to view it as a living object of worship. And it represents the principle of materialism, and materialism is in direct conflict with loyalty to God. John MacArthur: “The orders of those two masters are diametrically opposed and cannot coexist. The one commands us to walk by

and the other demands we walk by sight. The one calls us to be humble and the other to be proud, the one to set our minds on things above and the other to set them on things below. One calls us to love light, the other to love darkness. The one tells us to look toward things and eternal and the other to look at things seen and temporal.” If you are to seek first God, then you must first say NO to wants.

2. By saying NO to

(25-34).

The New American Standard Bible uses the synonym of “anxiety,” which is “worry.” Verse 25: “Do not be worried…” 28: “Why are you worried?” 31: “Do not worry…” 34: “Do not worry…” Do you think Jesus is trying to tell us something, that worry is a big deal to Him? And it should be a big deal to us, because “worry” very effectively divides, distracts, and conquers, so that Jesus Christ is no longer

.

The English word “worry” comes from an old German word meaning “to strangle or choke.” That’s exactly what worry does—it’s mental, emotional, and spiritual strangulation. That’s the unhealthy thing that worry does, but what exactly is it? Worry defined: Worry is being overly concerned when I should be either trusting in the Lord (“Lord, I trust You in this”) or entrusting to the Lord (“Lord, I entrust myself/this circumstance/this person to You”). So, the reason we worry is an un-

willingness to trust. Jesus put His finger on this in verse 30: “O you of little faith!” See worry as a choice that chokes out the life of our faith in Christ. And here’s why: we want what we want more than we are willing to trust Jesus in what He wants for us. In other words, our personal want is stronger than our personal faith in His sovereign will.

To be most committed to God, you cannot become more concerned about your loved one than about God’s kingdom, the very kingdom your loved one resists and may even abhor. Matthew 10:37-38: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” Our greater love becomes our greatest worry, which gets in the way of taking our cross and following Him for His sake above all other sakes.

And if we worry about things we can’t control, a person or a circum-stance, suddenly our worry for what we want most neutralizes our faith for what God wants most, which is our undivided faith in Him and our unwavering commitment to Him, because He’s worthy!

Recognize that worry is to lack faith, and then forsake the

of worry by choosing to fully trust God, and to fully entrust everything to God, including your unsaved loved ones. Otherwise, you will continue to be distracted from your priority of priorities, God, and that won’t make your life and marriage healthy.

3. By saying YES to

(33).

Out of all the things that we can seek after and be occupied with in life, we are to “seek first” two things that belong to God and belong to us as children of God. They are God’s priorities and therefore must have first place with us as well: “His kingdom and His righteousness.”

The terms defined: “God’s kingdom” refers to God’s dominion or rule. “God’s kingdom” is God’s sovereign rule. Therefore, to “seek first His kingdom” is to seek first His absolute

, will, and authority in our lives. Jesus in Matthew 10:39: “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” So, “seeking first God’s kingdom” is losing yourself—your wants, your desires, your agendas—to the Lordship of Christ for His sake.

“God’s righteousness” is all that is right and holy in the sight of God. So, to “seek first His righteousness” is to hunger and thirst most for an altogether righteous life, and then to pursue His righteous

with every fiber of your being. How hungry are you?

That’s a man, a woman of God, who worships God with his daily life, day in and day out, day after day, “seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.” I’m reminded of Paul’s purpose statement in Acts 20:24 to the Ephesian elders: “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” It’s losing our lives for His sake…to that extent. That’s how we say YES to worship!

The promised outcome…

Verse 33 Paraphrased: Put first things first—His kingdom and His righteousness: that’s the command of God. And He will take care of the rest—all that you need will be added to you: that’s the promise of God. In the context, Jesus is speaking of material needs, but applied to mar-riage we can add to that marital health. If you and your spouse fully co-operate with God through total commitment to Him, health will come.

Health will come to your home to stay, along with stability, strength, endurance, and unified purpose for your lives in Christ and for the sake of Christ. It must start here, with you, husbands, and with you, wives, and with you, singles. You must get this first thing first. No matter your station in life, this must be your priority of priorities. And if you do, what a miraculous and eternal outcome will visit your life and your home.