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Priorities

Writer's picture: Brian DoyleBrian Doyle

Many of us want to be spiritual. Let's be honest, we want to be, but in the same way we also want to get in shape, get a better job, and so many other things. They're things that we put on our "wouldn't that be nice" list, but we don't intend to pursue them seriously. Yet, we (I include me in this) demonstrate EXACTLY what our priorities are in life by what we make time for. Work, entertainment and amusement, if we're honest, is the main goal of most people. We don't really want to make the most of our time (Entertainment is good, but like too much dessert is toxic), we want to fill the most time. Our society is proof that we can have excesses of everything and still be completely and utterly miserable. This is the legacy we are set to pass on to the next generation if we're not careful.


Though I am no longer teaching youth (exclusively, the Lord still grants me occasion to do so each week), I still am in an influential position with many, both in my own home (I have 4 boys who seem pretty easy to get along with) as well as in the community and at church. I thought "gone are the days when I hear Youth Kids give me reasons not to come to church." Yet in the past month alone (since camp, especially, though not every student is from camp), I've heard student after student give me reasons why they don't want to stick to the promises they made to Jesus. Not every single one, but each one has a good and valid reason (in their mind) for not following through with Christ. Sports, social commitments, weekend trips, and so many other things are in the way of them taking one or two hours out of their weeks to commit to Christ...after THEY expressed interest in doing so. What does it all boil down to? We as their parents demonstrate priorities which transfer to them. We don't want to force our beliefs on our kids, but then lament that they're not taking their faith seriously. Jesus doesn't force Himself on us, and yet knowing Him intimately is the key to knowing Him Spiritually. WE have to make Him the only priority. He has to be the reason we do everything (even in rest and play). Life is short. We're guaranteed no more time than what we have now. What we make time for is important! What are your priorities? What are you passing on to your kids, neighbors, coworkers, friends, subordinates and neighbors? Christ isn't important. He's CRUCIAL, and if you don't prioritize Him as the center of your life, you're missing out on opportunities, not merely for yourself, but to show the way to lasting peace and rest. The ball's in your court; what are you going to do with this? Colossians 1:15-23 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. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.


And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.




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