Life is complicated and our attempts to simplify life often only adds to the complexity. Just think about how we eat. At one time, not so long ago, in the whole course of history, eating was a simple task, you found something edible and you ate it. If you were fortunate you would find something that was not only edible, but that tasted delicious. However, for most people throughout history, you didn’t eat what you wanted, you ate whatever was available. Prior to the Potato famine, the poorest in Ireland subsisted almost solely off of potatoes. It was said that an adult would eat nearly 10 lbs of potatoes a day!
Now eating is a little bit different. We go to the grocery store where we are assaulted by options. Walking down the bread isle there are hundreds of choices. If we narrow our choices down to a single brand the options are still staggering. Let’s say you simply want some Arnold bread. Would you like Oatnut, whole wheat, 12 grain, healthy multi-grain, health nut, buttermilk, potato, country white, country oatmeal, country oat bran, country sourdough, Italian, stone ground, or brick oven and that doesn’t even cover the organic or non-gmo breads. If you are like me you don’t even know what half of those things really mean so you flip over the bread to look at the ingredients. There you find ingredients like soy lecithin, calcium sulfate, and more. Then heaven forbid we decide to add some butter to our order. At most recent count there were 57 options for butter at my local grocery store. When did choosing a bit of buttered bread become such a complicated mess!
Unfortunately, bread isn’t the only thing we have made a complicated mess. Our priorities are also a complicated mess. Our responsibilities at work compete with those at home, many Christians find themselves torn between sports and church, we are drawn to entertainment, but wonder if we shouldn’t spend time in more productive tasks. Thankfully God has given us a framework to help guide us to put first things first. Matthew 22 records the question asked to Jesus by a lawyer who wanted to know what was most important. Jesus answered without hesitation or complication. He said the two greatest commandments were to first, love God, and second, love your neighbor.
These two actions need to guide us as we consider where we devote our time, energy, and money. So take a minute and pull out your calendar and your bank register/credit card bill. Look over where you spend your time and where you spend your money and ask yourself two questions: Am I loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? Am I loving my neighbor as myself?
Father, I only know love because you have first loved me. You love me with an unwavering, sacrificial love beyond all comparison. Help me to love you in return and to share your love with my family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, even my enemies that you may be glorified in my life.
Make a list of areas in your life that are not centered around loving God or loving your neighbor. What changes could you make to keep the first things first?
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