Priorities

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

I Corinthians 15:19 (NIV)

As we look at our lives and evaluate ourselves what do you see? Can we look at our day planners, checkbooks, and daily lives and see what's really important to us? Do we list our priorities as God, Family, church, etc...yet as we look at our lives there is not much proof of that list? Other things are far more important. Money? Work? Hobbies? Habits? Greed? Ego? Self?
Do we really place ultimate faith, trust, and hope in a relatioship with God? Or are we simply going to church, wearing the name christian, and putting hope that our belief in God is or will be enough to get us through?

Maybe we simply don't want to go to hell or we know that we are supposed to go to church and believe in God, so that is as much as we give to it. Maybe our faith isn't much of a faith at all, but more of idea? Maybe we have some religion, but little personal relationship. It's hard to put God at the top of our list of priorities when we have some belief, but limited faith, some religion, but little relationship. You cannot grow or mature in your faith if it is not at the top of your list.

When we choose golf, hunting, fishing, shopping, ball games, and every hobby, habit, and interest you can think of over our involvement, service, commitment to God through our local church and personal faith. The result? Our list on paper doesn't match up with our heart. God wants us to enjoy this life, but not this life only! God wants our life to be productive, but if all we want is what this life has to offer, we are missing the point of knowing God all together and should be pitied.

This life is not what LIFE is all about. Earthly pleasures are temporary. Everything in this world, including our hobbies and material things are destructive distractions, when their pursuit becomes more important or valuable than knowing, serving, and living a life of relationship with God.

Everyday people throw away marriages, families, and relationships for temporary pleasures or gain. We break vows, stab people in the back, and step on anyone we can to get ahead, get the most, or get what we think will make us happy or content in this world, while ignoring the fact that this life isn't all there is. This life was not meant to be a gamble. This life is not about doing what you want and how you want your whole life and ignore God or put him way down the list of priorities, but hope for the best when you die or hope He'll save you an open seat in heaven.

We must get God off the paper list and into our hearts and He must be first. We must seek to not only believe in God, but develop a strong faith in Him through the pursuit of a relationship with Him that will change our habits, hobbies, relationships, and priorities. It will give our lives balance, clarity, meaning, value, and purpose. If we truly seek to put God first in our lives and in this world to prepare for the next(eternity), we can began to have our priorities in order. Today is a great day to get our priorities straight. It's a process, but one worth working for, not for this life, but eternal life.