First Things

I pray that you are well and want to encourage you to keep a holy Lent. I want for you the peace and hope that come from setting aside (that’s what holy means) these next forty days as a time to get your priorities straight. I pray for God to move in your life and mine so that we will live in such a way that there will be an opening for God and God’s peace to fill our hearts like never before.

Now getting our priorities straight is no small task for most of us. Too often in life we are presented with different priorities that compete for our attention and our resources. Like standing in front of the ice cream counter on a warm summer evening, we often have some very good choices in front of us. Or when the alarm rings and we have to choose between catching an extra forty minutes of sleep or getting up for some exercise. Both choices have their benefits for living a healthy life.

We are constantly being pulled in good directions by different priorities. It’s not always clear cut that one priority is good and one is bad. On our better days choosing among a good and a bad choice makes for an easy decision and we usually make the right choice.

The problem arises when we have two or more good choices in front of us and how we choose matters.

Well on this one, God is clear. The first thing, the first priority we are called to choose is God. That’s what the first of the Ten Commandments establishes as the priority. God wants to come first in our lives. God wants our relationship with Him and living our lives with an eye toward God’s purposes for us and for our world to be our first priority. God comes first, before all other “gods” or priorities.

And what sounds harsh in some ways is actually the path toward fearlessness and a deep peace about how we are living our lives. Jesus puts it another way, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given to you as well.”   When we make God our first priority in our hearts, in our minds, with our time, with our wallets, then we get our priorities straight and the secondary priorities will take their rightful place as secondary.

Check it out this Lent as you make room for God and seek the first thing. Make the decision to put God first in your life. Ask God to show you how you can make God your first priority. For when we do, we will be filled with a peace that passes understanding and a life that’s really life.

See you in Church on Saturday at 5 pm or throughout the day Sunday.

Grace and Peace,

WFA