Time And Priorities - What’s First? - Day 146 Month 5-26 Week 21-6
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
Joshua 1:1-2:14, Psalm 119:1-24, Jeremiah 29, John 13:1-20
Time And Priorities - What’s First?
“Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6).” “Only be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:7).” “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).” “For I know the plans that I have for you, … plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).” These are all encouraging quotes from our reading today. Many have used these portions of scripture to believe as promises from God, and they are. However, there are some things that God also says that have bearing on these promises.
Joshua is told to “be strong and courageous” but he is also told “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” This sounds like a very important “if.”
Jeremiah is prophesying to the exiles when he prophecies to the captives about plans for their welfare and not for calamity. This will be after God has allowed them to be taken into captivity for 70 years because they had fallen away from following Him.
In Psalm 119 we read “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.”
Martin Luther stated, “I have so much to do today, I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
I am one of those people that struggle with priorities in the morning. I received a text message a few minutes ago from the manager of the hardware store where I work part time. He asked if I could come in today because they were short staffed due to one of the guys being suddenly called away. I almost said, I’ll be right in but then I realized, it would throw my priorities aside. My priority in the morning is spending time with Jesus, reading the Bible, praying, writing etc. Instead of saying I’ll be right in, I said “I can work from 10-2:30 if that will help.” I also had plans for doing some renovation work in our ceiling today because it is a cooler day, but that will need to wait now.
God does want us to be “strong and courageous.” He wants us to know He has plans for us. There is a future and a hope. However, how can we understand unless we invest in the relationship we have with Jesus? God wants us to be successful but that is in keeping with His plan. That way when we need to stand up and be counted, we will be strong and courageous and we will receive His blessing.
So what do we do?
- Prioritize time with Jesus (Joshua 1:7,8)
- Hold plans loosely (John 13:20)
- Adjust to God’s plan (Jeremiah 29:11)
- Be blessed (Psalm 119:1,2)
Jesus says in John 13:20, “he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” If Jesus puts someone in your path and you are too busy or your schedule does not allow you to help someone, you’ve missed out on blessings the Father of Time and Eternity has for you! It’s taken me 65 years to really understand this. Now though, I’ll go to work shortly knowing I have my priorities in place. I can be strong and courageous and represent Jesus when my heart is in the right place. And He will make sure we get done what we need to when we need to.
Have a great day!
Steve
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