Priorities

Priorities.

Everyone has them, not matter what your age may be.  When you are a young child, your priority is just that, being a kid, going and playing outdoors, meeting the neighborhood kids, looking both ways and holding your parents hand while crossing the street, etc…  As you grow older, your priorities change, you start having to pay attention to harder subjects in school, and you need to find that first job so you can afford your first car.  You wonder how you can let the girl or guy you like know that you like them without actually telling them.  You move on to college, and decide what career you want to have (sometimes you decide multiple times) you want to find a spouse, and settle down.  You are in your 30’s now, you want to make a name for yourself in your job, you are trying to raise a family and make it all work and mesh together.  The kid’s sports and piano lessons, the golf game you want to improve at, the house you are trying to maintain the mortgage to pay off….  Now you are 50’s, kids are growing up, starting to do their own thing and you are trying to desperately to stay “relevant” in their life (don’t worry you always will be), they are working on choosing colleges and/or careers.  You are wondering why you decided on the career you did and trying to figure out if it was all worth it.  Now you are 80, your kids are gone and married, you have grandkids now and you spoil them every chance you get.  You try to get as much traveling in as you can to see the places you wanted to while you were younger but just couldn’t do, you go to coffee every morning with some of your friends (and maybe some aren’t but they still show up at McDonalds anyways)…. Well you get the picture now right?

So, how far off am I?  Or am I somewhat close?  How we live our life is an indication of what we view as the most important to ourselves.  I started thinking about priorities the other day as I was reading through some different passages of scripture and my attention was drawn to a verse in Luke that says "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"  Wow!!!!, now that may not seem like much, but if you think about it, those are the very first recorded words of Jesus in the New Testament.  Jesus knew what the important priorities in life really were.  Do we?  If someone is really looking for us, would we really be in the church?  Would we really make sure we were in the presence of God?  Or would they find us on the golf course, or the bowling alley, or at some sporting event?  Where are we putting God in our priority list of life?  Where am I putting God in my priority list of life?

All too often it just seems so easy to sleep in on Sunday morning because we were out late on Saturday.  Or to go to that one sports game on Sunday morning, or to go grocery shopping on Sunday morning because the crowds aren’t as big, or…. Well I think you get my point.  Now, I’m not saying that skipping church that one Sunday morning is going to lead you to a life of Condemnation, but what I am saying is that God sees what our priorities are on any given day.  So what are we showing him in our lives?  One of the biggest things that I see in youth ministry is that 90 percent of the things kids see their parent’s value and give the extra effort towards are things the children will value and prioritize as well.  So, where does not only God, but your children see your priorities being?  Is it on the newest electronics gizmo out there?  Is it on that new designer purse that you see in the store window?  Or is it on something like family meals and devotions together? Making as much effort for our kids to be at a youth meeting once a week as we do for them to be at sporting events every day? 

Where your priorities lie is up to you, Jesus’ was on his Father.  Where are yours?