Jesus must be our ultimate priority. He must not be pushed to the margins of our lives, but kept at the center. He must not be peripheral, He must be our Vision. We must not offer Him our leftovers, but rather our very best.
Rather than trying to squeeze Jesus into our already busy schedule, Jesus ought to rearrange our schedule. He should enjoy pride of place. Everything else in our lives should fall around Him. But far too often we get up, get dressed, get the kids ready, get them to school, go to work, come home (maybe), run around, take the kids to sports practice, do chores, take the kids to their local game, go to meetings, take the kids to their travel game, go to the gym, take the kids to another sports event, drive home, maybe have dinner, get the kids in bed, perhaps sit exhausted on the couch watching TV, get ready for bed yourself and – oh yeah … uh … “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, let angels something, something … (snoring).” We offer Jesus the crumbs of our lives. Nobody likes crumbs.
We need to ask: Where is Jesus in our lives – on the margin or at the center? Know this: you don’t keep the Savior of the World on the margins. And so, how do our priorities need to be rearranged?
Well, follow the trail of how you spend your time, your money, your energy, your affection and your attention and you will find what matters most to you – you will find your ultimate priority. Is it Jesus? Or is it something else? (Is it money? Is it your job? Is it being responsible and getting everything done? Is it your kids? Is it being successful? Is it keeping up appearances and pleasing people? Is it feeling secure and significant?)
What is at the core of our lives? What is most important? What drives us? What inspires and enlivens us? What compels us and shapes our thinking? What is our heart’s deepest longing? What is our ultimate priority? Is it Jesus or something else? If it’s something else, we need to rearrange our priorities. Perhaps it’s not even a single thing, but the sheer volume of other things. Whatever it is or they are, they are not more important than Jesus. Say “no” to those things. Say no to anything and everything that steals you away from the most important thing. Make Jesus first. Be His disciple first. Be intentional about discipleship. Make time and space for it to happen in your life and in the lives of your children.
But there’s more. If something else is your ultimate priority, then more than your priorities need to change. Your heart needs to change. Your affections, your desires, your mindset needs to change. Jesus must be the desire of your heart.
The call and priority of discipleship is to fix our eyes on Jesus. We often worry “What do I have to do?” But the heart of discipleship is not what we do, but who our eyes are fixed upon. In discipleship we look to Jesus. And when we do that, everything else will fall into place.
Beloved, look to Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed on Him. Make Him the love of your life and your ultimate priority.
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