Priorities

“The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others.  The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ.  Whenever you see this quality in a person, you get the feeling that he is truly a man after God’s own heart.”          Oswald Chambers

 “The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ.”  I ran across this quote from Oswald Chambers the other day and was taken aback by the profound simplicity at which he had provided some clarity into a struggle that I have carried for most of my adult life:  namely, how to prioritize my passions.  It probably does not come as a surprise to any of you who know me well, but I am a very passionate person.  I have yet to discover a way of doing things a little bit.  Usually, when I am in, I am all in.  I have no desire to be a casual Christian, a passive husband, an unattached father, a distant grandfather, a visionless leader, or a fake friend.  Whether I am working on a sermon, a relationship, or a friend’s old car, my heart is in it completely and herein lays my struggle; focus.

There are so many things in this world that are important to me.  Wonderful things.  People. Blessings.  Challenges.  Opportunities.  Clearly, God has placed many good gifts in my life and I have a longing to pour all of myself into everything that He has provided.  Yet, with all of the good around me, it is often hard to remain focused on the best thing.  I find myself growing weary when I do not keep a clear focus on the greatest priority of my life, Jesus Christ, and allow my attention to be exploited by all the other good things that He has provided.  It’s when my focus remains more steadily on the gift than the giver, that I begin to walk on the slippery path of idolatry.  The third commandment reminds us that we are not to make anything into an idol; not even the good blessings of God.  (Ex. 20:4-6)

So, how does a passionate person like me juggle all the many good things of life without any of them becoming idolatrous and therefore sinful?  Look again at the profound simplicity of Oswald Chambers.  “The overruling passion…is Jesus Christ.”  God never insists on being the only passion of our lives.  He is the giver of every good and perfect gift and we are to be good stewards of all His blessings.  However, if we are to follow hard after Jesus Christ, we must make Him the “overruling passion” that puts all the others in perspective.  My priority must be Jesus Christ. 

And Jesus never asked to be our only passion, only our first and foremost.  He said it this way; “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”   Matt. 6:33  Putting Jesus first will never take away from the good things He has given us, but will only enhance our ability to enjoy them all the more because they will remain in the place he intended; under His providential care.  Pretty sweet, huh?

Thanks for reading.