Which Comes First?
At the playground, I take a few minutes to look over emails on my phone
Reference: After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. (1 Chronicles 16:2 NIV)
Explore: Each day I have a fairly lengthy to-do list. Ranging from washing clothes at home to contacting TV celebrities at work, my tasks are numerous and varied.
When I’m at work it’s easy for my work responsibilities to take over my mind. While I’m making lunches, I’m already thinking of an agenda item I need to bring up at work.
When my child is telling me a story, I’m distracted by trying to think of the best way to word a letter. When I’m at the playground, I take a few minutes to look over emails on my phone. It’s so easy to let my work life invade into my home life.
Application: We all need to decide on priorities in our life. It’s a balance between work, family, friends, hobbies, church and everything in between. I’m honest enough to admit that there are times when I get it wrong.
King David gave a great example of getting his priorities right when the Ark of the Covenant arrived. He sacrificed to God and then blessed the people.
With the crowds of people around, I would have found it easy to cater to their needs first and then work with the select few to honour God. But David knew better.
Throughout the Bible, the commands we are given are to honour God and then honour others. So often we put the needs of the obvious things first, but this means we can push God so far down the list that we just don’t get the time to get to Him by the time the day is over.
Each day we have the opportunity to be in the presence of God. Let us come to God like David did, making it his first priority and not leaving Him until last.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we allow our busy lives to take priority. We want to honour You as our first priority; with our minds, our time and all our resources. Amen.
How can you make God a priority today?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.