Priorities. Did you know that the word priorities as a plural exists for less than a hundred years? Because priority from Latin prioritas means “first in rank, order” and is derived from prior – meaning first. Hence there can only be ONE priority.
What is our priority in life? Family, friends, career, money, sports, TV, phone? Does God even make the list of our priorities?
There is a saying in Alcoholics Anonymous that whatever you put first before your sobriety, you will loose second (because first you will loose your sobriety). Matthew 6:33 tells us to put the kingdom of God first and everything else will be given to us. Then why is that so difficult?
Many people are making resolutions today and by the end of the week they might be broken or forgotten already. Instead of adding on more things to our life, we should consider which ones to remove. A bad habit can seldom be broken, instead we need to replace it with a good one. That is why alcoholics go to AA. Not to learn how not to drink, but to learn how to live a sober life.
As Christians, we need to learn how to live a godly life and that is why we go to church and surround ourselves with other sinners that try to become better. There are no saints in the pews next to us, only other sinners. Christianity like sobriety is a way of life and it needs to be learned. Other people are like sandpaper, they will smooth our rough edges and allow us to learn to become better. It won’t change them, but it will change us.
Let us pray for one another as we venture into a new year, a Jubilee year in the church, which exists to help us to draw closer to God.
