“God said to Solomon. ‘Because your greatest desired is to help your people, and you did not ask for personal wealth and honor or the death of your enemies or even a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people, I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested.” 2 Chronicles 1:11-12
On what end of the spectrum would you say (honestly) your priorities were?
Self-Centered or Christ-like
More times than I would even care to share, I would have to say mine would be closer to self-centered. I might even put a line close to the middle, but it wouldn’t always be true.
So how do we move from having self-centered priorities to Christ-like priorities?
How do we rise first thing in the morning and give Him the first from our mouth, our heart, and our thoughts?
Does a mere mutter of, “Good morning, Lord” suffice? Isn’t the giving up of ourselves the first that should be given? Wouldn’t that move us closer to Christ-like priorities, the relinquishing of our wants and desires?
How much control do we allow the self to have over us? This giving into ourselves has corrupted our thoughts and our hearts. We spring from our beds, rushed, consumed with our lists of to-do’s, but where is He, where is His time?
This busyness it all ends and our self-centered priorities lead us away from Him.
It is possible, to have Christ-like priorities; priorities that revolve around Him, His will, His purpose, His timing, His plans, His day. But they all require the letting go of self and the putting on of His Word.
We do have time in the morning to utter more than a, “Good morning, Lord.” We are able to rise with the Sun and give Him the first of our day. In this hour there is less tainting from the World. Less demands being thrown upon us. In this hour the first and best can be given.
It is simply the choosing, the choosing to relinquish the self, its wants and desires. Isn’t that what Jesus did for us? He gave us the best of Himself. He left the place of Holiness. He left the place where perfection existed, and entered a world of imperfection and sinfulness.
He did not hold His best, His first, nor His blood, death, burial or resurrection from us. He showed us how, how to move from self-centered priorities to Christ-like priorities.
By the giving up of self! There is not a better giving than what Christ gave us. There is not a better giving or priority than the one that puts Him first at all times. It is possible, but it is choosing, your choosing and my choosing.
Accepting Christ is more than just ensuring the escape of Hell. It is the dying of self and its wants and desires. It is choosing to center our lives around Him and not on the world or self. It is choosing to make His Word our guide, our source, our daily bread. That is what will move us closer to Christ-like priorities.
Jesus in this day may my priorities be those that are Christ-like. May they be all about You and others and not about what benefits me. Forgive me Jesus for failing to give You the first and best part of me. You deserve more than my leftovers. Amen
