Priorities

First: the spirit. Second: the soul. Third: the body.
The basic need of the human heart is not for things, for they cannot satisfy its deepest longings. Man is not mere clay. He is a living soul.
The body craves for material things, so we buy food and clothes and houses and cars — things for the body. But the body eventually dies. The mind cries for intellectual things, so we build schools and buy books. We read and study and cultivate friendships. The spirit calls for spiritual things. It needs God. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God” (Psa. 42:11<<To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.>> As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. (Psalm 42:1)). The spirit craves for something that material things can never supply. It craves after God. There is an emptiness in each human life that only God can fill. “Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:3333But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)).
Christian Truth, Vol. 27