I received this e-mail via the web site, so I thought I would share my response as it may be helpful to others.

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What do you mean when you say that if we take care of God’s business, He will take care of our business?

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Again and again throughout Scripture, we see the principle that God rewards faithfulness, commitment, obedience, and our putting Him first.  On January 8^th, pastor spoke on Matthew 6, especially Matthew 6:33.  Jesus taught that when we put God and His Kingdom first that we would not need to worry about the things of life.  And Jesus was specific in the passage—He talked about clothes, food etc.  What’s interesting is that He dealt with how the world—or pagans/unbelievers—chase after things.  God’s people are not to live like that, though.  We are to put God first and we are to put God first in every area of life, and when we do that, God will make sure our needs (including the every day concerns of life – food, clothes etc.) are met.   So it’s a matter of prioritization.  We are to put God and His Kingdom first.

Another similar principle in Scripture is the emphasis on seedtime and harvest and sowing and reaping.  To reap in any area of our lives we must first sow.  This is true in every area of life.  If I want people to demonstrate kindness to me, I must first be kind.  Many people want to reap all sorts of things, but they never make the commitment to sow.  Commitment comes first.  Obedience comes first.  Right prioritization comes first.  Putting God first comes first.  Making God, His Kingdom, and what He is concerned about our highest priority comes first.

Many times we get the order of things wrong.  We chase things or get focused on everything else but God and then put God last.  As believers, that’s not how we’re supposed to live.  We’re supposed to put God first and we’re supposed to put His kingdom first.  When we do that, God takes care of us.

Having been in church all my life I’ve seen firsthand the results of two different approaches—on the one hand, I’ve seen people who are 100% committed to God who put God first, who implement what the Bible teaches in their lives, who are passionate about God, who witness to others, who help out, who give, who attend church regularly; and on the other hand, I’ve seen people who are casual in their commitment—they come to church occasionally but never get serious, they never fully commit, they never help out, they don’t develop an active prayer life, they never really begin to implement what the Bible teachers (whether it regards morals, lifestyle, finances etc.), they live in a perpetual state of being lukewarm, they never commitment to living for God in obedience.  And the results between those two different levels of commitment are amazing.

God’s Kingdom on earth is the Body of Christ, the Church.  And we are a part of that by being a part of the local church.  God’s concern is people—that they be saved and discipled.  That is what the church is all about.  People are a part of that by their help, their faithfulness, and their giving which goes to support that endeavor.

When a person makes putting God and His Kingdom first—in every area of life—their highest priority, the “things” of life begin to take care of themselves.

As I prepared for this Sunday and studied the life of Elisha, one passage stood out to me that applies to your question and this topic—2 Kings 4.  The Shunammite woman honored God, His Kingdom, and the man of God in her life.  She fed and provided a place for Elisha to stay, and then later, she and her husband even added onto their home to give the man of God a permanent place to stay whenever he was in the area.  It was then, after that, that God moved in that woman’s life—she had not yet had any children.  Elisha spoke a prophetic word and said she would conceive and give birth to a son and she did.  She first put God first, she first took care of God’s business.  And then, God took care of her.

When you put God first, God will take care of you.  When you take care of God’s business, He will take care of your business.