MCLEODS, New Brunswick, January 15, 2024 – Paul mentions how we’re always doing the things we shouldn’t be doing and not doing the things we should. He was talking here about things that are right in God’s eyes and how we have a tendency to slide towards the sinful rather than the righteous. He’s not wrong about that. Even Jesus had his moments when he had to rein in the tendency that was trying to pull him away from a righteous response. Thank God he always had the upper hand, regardless of the circumstance; we, on the other hand, not so much.

I was reminded today of our tendency to slide towards the sinful, but in a different context. I caught myself thinking how I never seem to have enough time to do the things I’d planned to do in the run of a day. I reasoned with myself (in my defence) that there are only so many hours in the day, and of those hours, only so many when I’m awake, and of those I’m awake, only so many when I’m fully functional, and of those when I’m fully functional, only so many when I’m operating at the top of my game. Yes, I’m being somewhat facetious about the “operating at the top of my game” part, but you get the gist. When you’re operating at the top of your game, everything flows, and you’re not so much “in the moment” as you are the moment.

As for the non-glorious rest of my waking hours, my “to do” list is perpetually longer than my day. What’s a poor sinner to do?

The answer, as always, can be found in scripture. If we do those things that we know we shouldn’t (or better said, if we don’t do those things we know we should), it’s because we prioritize the wrong things. It’s not rocket science. What you spend your time doing reflects your priorities.

But scripture very clearly tells us what our priority should be and how to make sure it stays a priority and dominates our waking hours. Note that I’m talking to believers here, not to unbelievers. What unbelievers choose to prioritize is not my business. They can prioritize whatever they want. My business is pointing out what believers should prioritize, and in a word, it’s God.

Believers should prioritize God.

Jesus says that that the most important Commandment is also the first Commandment, which is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. So, our priority is to love God and to do so with every faculty and ability we have. So far, so good. Simple and straight-forward. But knowing we’re supposed to do something doesn’t necessarily translate to our doing it. If we know that loving God should be our priority, how do we avoid all the distractions trying to lure us away from doing it?

Remember that Jesus also had a to-do list. He worked ceaselessly even on the Sabbath, because his work was God’s work, which meant he could do it 24/7. But Jesus’ to-do list didn’t include vacuuming the house, doing the laundry, or shoveling the driveway. It didn’t include picking the kids up after school and taking them to the dentist’s. Jesus had one job and one job only – being God’s Messiah – and so everything on his to-do list reflected that.

What I’m saying is that if we feel we’re not giving enough of time to God, it’s because we’re not giving enough time to God. Full stop. And we’re not giving enough time to God because we’re not prioritizing God. If we’re not loving God (that is, if we’re not putting him at the center of everything we do and not doing what he’s showing us to do), it’s because we’re prioritizing something or someone else over God. We should never to this, not as believers. When we come to the Judgement and God asks us why we didn’t get around to doing the work he sent us to do, “sorry, I was too busy” is not going to fly as an excuse. Truth be told, at the point (the Judgement), no excuse is going to fly, so we’d better make sure we get our priorities straight before we get there.

Immediately after Jesus called them, his disciples gave up everything to make God their priority, and other than for Judas Iscariot, they continued to make God their priority for the rest of their time on Earth. They walked away from their families, their jobs, their homes, and their possessions – their entire focus from that point onward was God, and their entire to-do list was “do God’s work”, as was Jesus’ list.

If you’re genuinely born-again, you’ve been called to put God first and make him the only priority in your life. God doesn’t ask us to this because he’s an egomaniac who wants to dominate our every waking minute. Far from it. God asks us to put him first because he knows that’s the only way we’ll avoid sliding into distractions. If we prioritize anything or anyone other than God, we risk backsliding, and if we backslide long and far enough, we won’t make it Home.

So, what’s on your to-do list for today?

More importantly, what’s on your to-do list for tomorrow and every day after that?