First priority

Last week I recommended that you list your life’s priorities, keeping the number of items on that list to 5 or less. Did you do that? Was it hard to keep the list short? For me, it is tempting to combine things and to make a single priority to cover many areas. Don’t give in to that temptation – keep your list of priorities short and simple.

Your first priority drives you.  It is the basis upon which everything else is decided. 

• Put “being successful in career or life” first and your education, appearance,  lifestyle, relationships, ethics, etc. will fall in line accordingly. 
• Put “family” at the top (sounds honorable) but understand that you may find your calendar, health and finances are not your own. 
• Make “live a good life” number one (what fun!) and you might find yourself questioning the value of remaining faithful to commitments made in prior days that seem stagnant and tiresome today. 

My #1 priority is my relationship with God. To some people hearing that God is my first priority will evoke a “duh” and for others a “you’ve got to be kidding me” response. I ask that you stick with me and consider my argument. 

It is my relationship with God that is my top priority. I do this first. There is no doubt that God doesn’t need me or my endorsement of Him; we must concede that He is the only “I AM.” But, I need Him and I love it that He desires me.

Putting our relationship first impacts everything and everyone else in my life. Let me give you some examples: 

• If I have an ethical issue, I go to His word to us, the Bible, and I find the answers to my question. 
• If I have more to do than I have time, I make sure that my calendar does not shortchange my time in corporate and private worship, and in prayer and study of Him. The same is true of all of my other resources like money, energy and attention. 
• If I have to make a decision about the future, I go to Him, His word, His guidance in the past, and council from John and, perhaps from others who know God and who know me. 

You see, my relationship with God is my highest priority; it drives everything else. It is the framework on which I build my life and my lifestyle. If I mess up this primary relationship, then the foundation of my life is destroyed. 

I realize that it might sound simplistic or unsophisticated to say that I my relationship with God is primary, but it is richer than I ever imagined. 

What drives your life?