You want to get your priorities right, and you know what they are, but in crunch time, do you really follow them and live them out? I have found that I need look no further than my family to find a load of crunch time challenges to what I know are the right priorities.
Simply put, when times are good, when the bank account is over flowing, or when my career is going well, it is easy to realize and embrace the truth that we are called to serve God and not stuff. But what about when times are tight? Who gets top priority then?
What about when you've just lost your job and you don't know which way to turn, and when you're sitting down to update your resume, your little one asks for help with their homework or to simply just play with them? Whats more important? How about when you get offered the opportunity that you have been working so hard for but it requires a move to another state just as your daughter starts her senior year of high school? Not an easy call huh? Remember what Joshua said? "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Easy decision isn't it?
What happens to your priorities when you are being pulled at the seams? What happens to serving the Lord first, putting your family next, and bumping everything else on down the list?
Everyone knows who Moses is, but do they know Joshua? He took over for Moses as the leader of the people of Israel after Moses died. He took the people across the Jordan River into the "Promised Land." It had been a long, hard journey to say the least. And no sooner than they crossed the river, dissension and grumbling among the people started to come to the surface. They took one look around and realized there weren't any Holiday Inn's or Waffle Houses around, no Taco Bell or Chick-Fil-A's. But Joshua had an unwavering faith. He knew that if he faithfully served God that He would provide for their needs. Much later in his life Joshua would recall the events and he would challenge the people with a choice. To either serve the Lord or to serve the heathen gods. The people responded in Joshua 24:21, "And the people said to Joshua, 'No, but we will serve the Lord." ESV
Guys, God still poses that same challenge to us today. All it takes is a decision every day of whom you will serve. God or everything else?
"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15 ESV
Simply put, when times are good, when the bank account is over flowing, or when my career is going well, it is easy to realize and embrace the truth that we are called to serve God and not stuff. But what about when times are tight? Who gets top priority then?
What about when you've just lost your job and you don't know which way to turn, and when you're sitting down to update your resume, your little one asks for help with their homework or to simply just play with them? Whats more important? How about when you get offered the opportunity that you have been working so hard for but it requires a move to another state just as your daughter starts her senior year of high school? Not an easy call huh? Remember what Joshua said? "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Easy decision isn't it?
What happens to your priorities when you are being pulled at the seams? What happens to serving the Lord first, putting your family next, and bumping everything else on down the list?
Everyone knows who Moses is, but do they know Joshua? He took over for Moses as the leader of the people of Israel after Moses died. He took the people across the Jordan River into the "Promised Land." It had been a long, hard journey to say the least. And no sooner than they crossed the river, dissension and grumbling among the people started to come to the surface. They took one look around and realized there weren't any Holiday Inn's or Waffle Houses around, no Taco Bell or Chick-Fil-A's. But Joshua had an unwavering faith. He knew that if he faithfully served God that He would provide for their needs. Much later in his life Joshua would recall the events and he would challenge the people with a choice. To either serve the Lord or to serve the heathen gods. The people responded in Joshua 24:21, "And the people said to Joshua, 'No, but we will serve the Lord." ESV
Guys, God still poses that same challenge to us today. All it takes is a decision every day of whom you will serve. God or everything else?
"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15 ESV
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