Keeping Priorities
What are some of the things taking your time? What are the priorities? How does our life show our priorities? Mark guides us through reminders of setting right priorities.
Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
One day during a meeting a co-worker popped in…“I need to talk to you about something important.”
“Is it urgent?” My boss replied.
“Well.” My co-worker stammered as you could visibly see him processing the question.
I heard the boss again, “I know it is important, but is it urgent?”
This news required action to be taken and our boss was calculating whether he needed to interrupt the current meeting to attend to it. As it turned out the issue, while important, was not urgent and so was taken care of in proper time.
Minute by minute we are faced with this same struggle. It is a struggle of priorities. We know we need to set them, but the problem is our priorities are questioned constantly. Too often we prioritize what is urgent…leaving behind what is actually most important. We must make the hard decisions of prioritizing faith, family, work (school), friends, social obligations, sports, and community.
How do we keep priorities in line and train our children to do the same?
- Keep first things first. Follow the example of Christ. As His schedule got busier He would “often withdraw to lonely places and pray,” Luke 5:16. Not my natural tendency, but Jesus kept focused on His Father above and did not become distracted. Prayer and time with the Father helped Him stay focused and prioritize the many directions He was being pulled. No matter what we do in our lives, God’s greatest desire for us is to remain close to Him.
- Work together at keeping priorities. Use your family and community to help you keep your priorities in line. God created us to be people who live in community, and our community should help us walk closer with Him. Our community should be helping us keep our priorities in line with God’s Word, and we should be doing the same for those in our community.
- Learn to say no. Too often we find ourselves saying no to the wrong things. We say no to a morning with the Lord because we are too tired, when we should have been saying no to the late night game or TV episode we were watching the night before. “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. – 1 Corinthians 10:23.
It is such a challenge determining what our priorities should be, and there will be times we mess up and get it wrong. But thanks be to God who gives grace and longs for us to walk with Him as our priority. We can rest in knowing all other priorities will fall in place when we set Him as the first.
Camper Corner:
What are some of your priorities? Priorities can change and we can prioritize things we never thought we would. If someone looks at your life, what would they see your priorities are? Hint…it’s the way you choose to spend your time.
