Words: 1167
Time to read: 6 minutes
What are your priorities?
We all have them and far too often we confuse them. It’s easy to conflate what we need and what we want. We want to sit on the couch all day and do nothing but we need to contribute to society, even if for purely self-preservation reasons. We want to consume as much content as possible to try and avoid the obvious pain of having to deal with problems that actually affect our lives.
So we completely ignore the imperative of the long term for the pleasure of the immediate.
Obviously, this is a complete disservice to who we are in the moment as well as compromising what we could be in the future. Sacrificing something that we would desire in the immediate for something that can only be gained by giving up the immediate is the beauty of maturity and a constant personal choice. And it is a choice. It’s a choice that becomes ever-increasingly difficult.
That’s just looking at our physical needs. Things that are tangible. That which is intangible and invisible often is neglected to a degree that, were it visible, it would be forlorn and derelict beyond any use.
That’s just the danger that we so often observe when we deign to peer into the innermost recesses of our hearts. It’s there that we so often attempt to remain blissfully ignorant. It’s a place that we attempt to salve with any amount of numbing mindlessness in an effort to disregard the gaping hole that we are left with as we grapple with the inevitable busyness and demands of our lives. The priorities that we ought to have, especially as God’s children, are often inverted. That which is temporal consumes so much of our energy and resources. Regardless of how disciplined we are with our time, there never seems to be enough of it and the things that could fill up our days are seemingly limitless. When we dare to contemplate who we truly are and what our values and priorities truly are versus what we declare them to be, it’s often disconcerting to see the disparity. It’s disappointing because we’ve betrayed who we say we are. It takes courage to recognize that perhaps my words and actions may not line up.
So where do things go so badly awry? It’s not like as a child of God we set out to be deceitful and to profess one set of priorities while actively pursuing quite another. It’s simply death by a thousand cuts. There’s really never just one thing that is off. It’s a plethora of little things. It’s succumbing to the pressures of this world, our own lust, and certainly outlying temptations. A little here. A little there. It’s not standing up for what your values are on a consistent basis. Not speaking up for what you know to be right. When you don’t do it this time, next time it’s even easier. Paul admonished the Ephesian church to not “give place to the devil”. That’s when things begin to go wrong. Giving value real estate that is sealed with the Holy Ghost for our adversary to take up rent. The irony always is we’re the ones who end up paying.
The consequences of misplaced or misaligned priorities are disastrous. In the short term, it often feels right. Even affirming—you’re getting ahead with your career, you’re making your way in the world, you’re somebody. The heart of the issue is not necessarily today, tomorrow, or even the next decade or two. Our priorities must be in sync with eternity. Our focus must be heavenly bound. Our work and life—in ministry full-time or not—must be completely yielded to the Eternal One and eternity. Perhaps we enjoy a modicum of success in this life, but if it falls short of the litmus test of eternal value, we would do well to reconsider that as a priority. We have this ephemeral moment to bring an eternal weight of glory to our Lord and Savior. The rewards we garner in this life are not for our pleasure or promotion. They are to offer to the only One who is worthy of such honor and praise. Perhaps that which we are so enamored with will end up as a gray, sad pile of ashes mindlessly strewn aside to make way for one who has gold, or silver, or precious stones. For the moment it would appear that we have success, joy, and fulfillment, but in that most personal, intimate of moments before Christ, what will it be?
We give far too little heed to the exhortation that each and every believer will give account of himself to Christ. I have no idea how that moment will go. I wouldn’t even care to guess how that accounting will go. We know that ultimately our life and work will be tested against the pure fire of His Word. Not for salvation. Simply to redound to His honor and glory. The shame we may well feel will not be from what others in heaven think of us but rather to know that we have such a small gift to bring to our Lord. The purity of the gift means far more than the inherent value that we so piously estimate it to have. I would hazard to guess that there will be many an unknown, humble believer who is left gold, or silver, or even a precious stone. Others, while they appear to have brought much more, will only be able to offer a smoldering pile of religious activity, ecclesiastical busyness, or church affairs. The fire simply revealed the gift for what it truly is. Don’t blame the fire. Look to the giver.
A moment-by-moment realignment of our priorities is the only way to live in light of eternity. Always and ever submitted to the Spirit’s will and impulse and guided not by our self-righteous ambitions or earthly-minded pursuits is the only way to live. But the busyness harkens, even clutches our hearts and spirits. All the while, the eternal weight of glory sits just a breath away. The glory that will be revealed in us is mere moments from us. Our lives are so full of this life that we fail to grasp the magnitude of our choices. Our priorities are aligned with things that will truly make no difference in the scope of our lives, nothing to say of the hereafter. The noise of this life may be turned up on full blast. The demands may be never ceasing. The tug and pull may become ever greater. We must remember that we are pilgrims. Strangers in this world. We dare not be too attached to the weights and burdens of this life for fear that we miss the immense and inescapable reality of the eternal. As life progresses its ebb and flow will tirelessly wear us down. It is up to us to day after day decide which priorities we will pursue.