Priorities

Living in America is nuts.

On each day, we wake up and we’re bombarded with seemingly thousands of things to take care of: house, job, friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife, kids, car, health, school, pets, and many more. If we’re a little younger, we might not have all of those things, but we replace those with parties, TV shows, movies, shopping, sports, and other fun things. Once we’re exhausted dealing with all this day-to-day stuff, we’re left to deal with scary things like: happiness, dreams, ambitions, plans, goals, and all that jazz. And, if we’re somewhat spiritual, we might throw God and church in that list.

See? Totally nuts. So much to do. So little time. How do we deal with all of it?

Priorities. We’re all about priorities. Even if we’ve never thought about or written down our priorities, we still have them. They’re the only way we can survive! We can’t possibly handle all of those things, so we rank them. We put all of our tasks side-by-side and determine which are expendable and which are precious. This eventually becomes our priority list and it permeates every decision we make.

A lot of times our priorities get us in trouble. We’ll go after one for a while (for example, work), but then that harms our other ones (like our kids). So we’ll reshuffle and reconfigure our priorities to something else (for example, our kids). But then other stuff suffers (like our marriage). So we’ll go around moving and shifting and reconfiguring what’s important to us looking for the perfect fit.

So what should be at the top of our lists? Fun? Family? School? Our job? If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’re probably expecting me to say, “God should be at the top of your priorities”. I could say that, and it probably would be helpful, but that isn’t where God wants to be in our lives.

Eh? What should go above Him? Where on our priority list should He be?

Before we move on, if you’re not sure about God or Christianity or any of that stuff, this may seem completely irrelevant to your life. After all, if God isn’t an issue in your life, then why should He be on your priority list? That’s understandable, but I ask that you keep reading because you may be wondering why all the priority configurations you’ve tried haven’t seemed to work. And more importantly, the Bible gives us a configuration that does work. Check out this passage from Colossians talking about Jesus:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15-17 (ESV)

Wow.

So what the heck does that have to do with our priorities?

Look at the bolded sections. By Christ all things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together! Hmm, let’s take some time to think about what all things implies.

After careful thought and examination, I think all things implies: all things. House, job, friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife, kids, car, health, school, pets, and many more. Parties, TV shows, movies, shopping, sports, and other fun things. Happiness, dreams, ambitions, plans, goals, and all that jazz. And everything else.

He created all things, He holds them together, and it’s all there for Him! So again, what the heck does that have to do with our priorities?

Earlier, we said that God doesn’t want to be on top of our priority lists. That seems odd, because if He created all things for Himself, then doesn’t He belong at the top? Well, we could put Him at the top. But that wouldn’t be high enough!

Since God created all things for Himself, then He also created our priorities for Himself. A lot of times, we will say things like, “Ok, 2:30 is God time. Then, 4:00 is family time. Then, 6:00 will be friends time.” When we think that way, God becomes on par with all the things on our lists instead of above them. God becomes a compartment in our lives. He desires to be much, much more than that.

What we should be saying is, “In my family time, how can I reflect God’s glory? When I’m at work, how can He work through me? When I’m at the baseball game, how can God shine through me?” We should not be determining where to place God on our priority lists. We should submit our priority lists to Him. We should allow Him to invade every aspect of our life! Only then can we find rest, peace, and joy.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)