TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY DECEMBER 16, 2014.
PRIORITY
The state of being earlier in time and occurrence; the right to precede others in order; rank or privilege.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:35.
A priority is something that is considered to be more important than anything else. How many people do you know that set priorities in their lives? Most people today do not set any kind of priorities in their lives. They just seem to move through life doing what they have to and no more.
We are living in a generation where people literally live just from one minute to another with absolutely no direction or any kind of priority of purpose. The saddest thing to see is that people are so focused on themselves that they do not have any concern for others, let alone God. They live totally for self and really show no care for anyone else.
To be a success in business you must have a business plan. This plan will outline the priorities that are necessary to establish and grow that business. Every individual needs a plan for their life. This includes planning the activities for each day in advance. We developed a habit many years ago to always take a moment every night and write down what we want to accomplish tomorrow and we still do this today.
The same is necessary if you want a happy family. You must have a plan, a schedule, a listing of daily priorities and then outline how you will spend your time and schedule your activities as a family. We learned this as well early in our married life mainly because we had 6 children, all having separate activities plus the responsibilities we had as parents. Without a plan outlining priorities nothing would have been accomplished. By the way this must include Spiritual priorities not just day to day activities.
We encourage you today to set goals and priorities in your life. God leaves no doubt as to what our first priority is to be. He states it very clear in Matthew 22:37-38: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the FIRST and GREATEST commandment."
Thus, your first priority must be your relationship with God. Every day you need to set aside time to read and study the Bible and to pray. Along with this you need study tools to help you grow spiritually. If this is not already a priority in your life, you need to be concerned enough to make it a priority.
Your second priority is to your family. Parents have the responsibility of providing not only for their children's physical needs but also for their spiritual needs. This includes involving them in reading the Bible, praying and going to a church. This requires a commitment of your time, and unless you make it a priority, it will not happen. Countless things will come up and become excuses for not having time. Your family must be second to God in your list of priorities.
Many people today put their job or other activities before family. This is not acceptable. The family must come first after God. We must mention this again because it was and is today the single most important priority in our family daily schedule. We always had dinner together as a family. If Ken had job responsibilities they would always be delayed for this time together with the family. The same was expected from every member of the family. Dinner time together was a priority in our family and God blessed this commitment.
We need to live by example because our children watch and listen and follow in our footsteps. Children need positive role models in their lives, beginning with their parents. Parents have a responsibility to help their children do their school work and guide them in their school activities and other responsibilities. Those times of sitting with our children at the kitchen table, helping them with school work were wonderful times of bonding.
Priorities are dreams with a deadline and remember you cannot dream a dream too big for God. You need to set your priorities each day (we did this the night before). Every morning or the night before write down your priorities for the day. Try it and you will be amazed at how much you will accomplish. When you are setting your priorities ask yourself the question: "What must be the focus of my attention today?" Then ask, "Does it control me?" If it is not Christ centered, then change it. The key thought here is "control." The priorities you set will control your life.
The reason many people do not go very far in life is because they side step opportunity and shake hands with procrastination. Every day is a new opportunity to serve the Lord. Do you make that your priority or do you procrastinate?
Our memory verse for this week is found in Luke 2:14.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
Help me, Lord, to keep my priorities straight. Keep Your hand on me so that I will not stray from putting You first in my life. Guide me to be a godly example for my family and to make it my priority to be there for them.
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