Priorities

As most of you know I have been participating in Ann Voskamp’s weekly practice of pondering and writing about different spiritual practices. I have been away from the computer for the week due to sickness, but I really wanted to post today. It has been such a blessing to participate and, at least once a week, stop and really reflect on the true purpose for which we are created.Typically Ann has shared ahead of time a direction for our posts, this week she did not do that, so I will have to “wing it” a bit.

How do I live Jesus as a Priority? What a question!

If I’m honest with myself and all of you. My first response is, “I don’t.”

“At the very least…not enough.”

I sometimes lament before the Father that my life seems no different than my unbelieving neighbor. It seems too easy to be bogged down in life’s stuff. You know, the stuff that we mama’s get bogged down with…laundry, meals, little ones with many needs,  Grandmother’s constant care, hubby’s to support and encourage, homes to vacuum and clean, hospitality as means of ministering to others, bills to pay, groceries to purchase, garden’s to tend to, etc, etc. Then, for those of us who educate our children in the home, we have the daily lessons that need to happen as well.

Worship, communion with the Father, seems to be pushed aside too often…by the stuff. In reality the stuff isn’t what is the most important. Yes, it needs to be done, but it is not the priority. Living with eternity in mind is the goal. That is the priority. And yet I can’t seem to actually live the goal.

One of the biggest struggles we have is this: in light of eternity, how does daily life fit in? I have been given the task as wife, mother, care-taker and home-maker to care for the home and my loved ones. How do I balance that with communion with the Father?

Prioritizing communion with the Father requires an act of the will at times.

It requires letting some things go.

It requires purposefully putting self aside.

It requires seeing the act of worship in the everyday stuff.

It requires seeing God’s hand on everything, over everything.

I hope that I can explain what I mean.

We live in the world, we are to toil, take dominion, and have purpose for being here in our little corner of God’s magnificent creation. We have purpose. Ultimately, the purpose is to worship the Father. To commune with Him. What we learn about worship and communion here prepares us for an eternity of communion with Him. We are practicing for eternity…although, I am aware, we will not have trouble worshiping Him then, since we will no longer be bound by a sin nature.

Ah, there’s that pesky problem again…sin. Our sin nature creates a desire in us which often takes over the toil and the worship. We begin to look around and see what work God has given other’s to do. We begin to think that maybe our work isn’t as pretty or doesn’t gain enough accolades.

We begin to want more.

We lose sight of the unseen, eternity.

We lose sight. When we lose sight, our priorities get mixed up.

We toil for the wrong reasons. We then toil for the things of this world. The stuff that makes up this world. When we pour our lives into making a home for our darlings, educating our children, caring for elderly family members. When we do these things as an act of worship…we are doing these things for Him…we are prioritizing Jesus in our lives.

The world tells us we should be doing more, we should be taking more, we should be getting more, and that serving our families is not enough.

God tells us to do all things as unto Him.

To serve.

Isn’t that what He did when He came? He served. He didn’t come, sit back, as King of Kings and expect to be waited upon, although He most certainly deserved it. He kept His eye on the priority…sin needed a sacrifice, one that was permanent. He served. He cared for those around Him. He suffered. He gave His all.

Are we to do any less?

There is balance in here somewhere. While Christ served He did not lose sight of time with the Father. Checking in.

Communing with.

Stopping from the toil.

While He was God-man He didn’t need to “check in” like we need to check in. I often wonder if He did so more for our example than anything else. I don’t know that, but it seems so to me.

We need to check in with the Father. Daily. Hourly. Moment by Moment. We do not know the Father’s heart like Christ did, so we need it even more.

We need to prioritize time to sit at His feet, to soak in His love, to listen, to be still. To keep our eye on the goal. We can not toil without Him, for if we do, we lose sight of eternity and the true goal and purpose for what we are doing here.

At the same time, as we serve our family’s needs,

when we put aside our selves,

when we can truly see that, by this serving, we are serving Him. We worship.

We still need to commune. Setting time aside for prayer and sitting at His feet. We also need to see that doing daily life can be worship, as long as, that doesn’t become all we are or all we do.

I do not think I have answered the question well. So many thoughts swirl.

Two days from now, I will think of a better way to write my thoughts. It always seems to be the way with me. Conversations are the same. I walk away and mull it over and realize I didn’t say what I meant well or worse still even at all. I pray the Father will use these simple thoughts to encourage you today.

In the meantime, you can head over to Ann and read her eloquent words and her beautiful heart.

This week’s ponderings: How You Live Jesus as a Priority

Photos: life’s stuff, God’s Word