WATCHWORD:
You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. Deuteronomy13:4
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
Meditation:
The Priority List – No. 2
Recently I heard a preacher raising the question whether God was an ‘add-on’ in our lives. An add on!? How dare him! God is the top priority in my life, the most important part of my life. However, what does the record show?
Let’s just see — “It’s raining. Let’s stay home and no go to church.” “It’s the final round of the British Open and I am not missing it.” “I was out late last night. Think I’ll pass on church.” “My kids have soccer practice, or band practice, etc. Let’s skip church and watch it on the screen.” John 11:35 – Jesus wept!
Then there is “Be careful, he may have Covid. Let’s just go and pass on the other side.” “Don’t give him water, we just have two bottles left.” “We’ll need to cut back on our tithe if we are going on that cruise.” And Jesus wept!
I confess that I get lost in my writing, and while I know that the lord has inspired so much of it, he has also laid before me opportunities to pause in my writing to reach out to my friends, my neighbors, and I have begged off. In the course of this obsession, I’ve missed doctor’s appointments, gatherings of neighborhood friends for lunch, visits to my family, etc., etc., all in the interest of worshiping my idol, writing. And Jesus wept!
Hey, I don’t think I’m alone. What is your idol? What do you worship? Sports? Service to others that has left you exhausted? Maybe it is the stock market. Maybe it’s a book you can’t put down. Perhaps it is a schedule that you cannot possibly alter. We have different kinds of excuses to avoid doing something we would prefer not to do, or we don’t like the idea of leaving our comfort zone. Relegating loved ones to priority #2, including worshiping the Lord. And Jesus wept!
In our prayers, I would wager that we include gratitude for the graces, the blessings that we have received from the Almighty. Maybe we say thank you Lord for blessing the relationship with the loved one, or perhaps we’re thanking the Lord for our children and grandchildren. There’s no question that the Lord has blessed us in more ways than we could possibly enumerate, and it is right and proper to express our gratitude. And we repay Him, how?
Have you thought about this: On those two hillsides outside the Jewish town of Bethesda and the Gentile town of Gardara where loaves and fishes were blessed and used to feed the multitudes, what did that mean? Did Jesus do that simply out of compassion? What about the baskets of surplus, the left overs? What about them? Was the blessing the left-overs or was it the message. Give him what you have, your fish and your loaves of bread, and he’ll bless it and you will have abundance. I believe that every Blessing has a context, that purposely goes beyond the blessing itself. Note the location of the feedings, a message for the Gentiles and the one for the Jews. Think on that.
Back to that priority list: Is God an “add-on” to your busy life? You know, when you can work Him into your schedule? When it is convenient and doesn’t interfere with those oh so important stuff n’ things. I’m pretty sure the blessings will continue, don’cha think? So, when you get time, you know, from your busy schedule, thank Him. No rush, just when you can find time. And Jesus wept!
Prayer:
Give us pause, Heavenly Father, in the midst of our busy days and cluttered minds, grant us some blessed wisdom, Lord, to be reminded that you are God, that you are in charge, that you love us and the blessings that we have experienced have all come through you’re blessed scarred hands. Give us grateful hearts and motivate us, Lord, to give you all the honor and praise, wherever we are and whatever we are doing. We know that you are present whether we’re at play, traveling, or in meditation with you, you are our priority, you are our most important element of our life. Forgive us when we seem to move you down our priority list. Help us to know that even here in our comfort zone, you are there. Amen
