Ever seen one of those lists, the one where you list your priorities in order. Often for the Christian they look like this:
- God
- Family
- Friends
- Church
- Job
But if we were honest they’d probably look like this:
- Family
- Friends
- Church
- God
- Job
Maybe not exactly but you get the idea. Didn’t Jesus come to free us from this kind of mindless legalism? Have we missed a trick by promoting this kind of priority style list? I mean we all know that God should be number one, but is a list the best way to motivate us? And how does this work out on a day to day basis? Like a to do list? Can we tick off the God part and then move onto our other priorities? Because if that’s the case isn’t it actually our jobs that comes out top? How do we balance God with these other important parts of our lives?
What if instead of making God a part of a list we made him the centre of our lives instead. What if we got rid of the list and instead let God flow into those other areas, if we recognised that God is intricately interested in every minute detail of our lives. If we made God central and placed everything else around Him, would we even need to talk about priorities in the same way? Jesus does say put God at the top of a list. In John 15 he says:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Out with the list and in with the remaining.
