Living Above The Norm

Ever heard the phrase, “Picking the lesser of two evils?” This is a little different. I’m sure if I were to ask you to list your various roles and relationships in order of importance or priority each of you could give me some very good answers with little thought. It would likely start to get fuzzy, however, if I were to ask you to list them in the order that you actually lived them.

Sometimes in life we have to look past giving the right answers and focus on giving the real answers. Only then, can we really begin to see change in our lives.

What Matters Most

I really don’t think we often allow the things that don’t matter to creep into our lives and interrupt our most important relationship. “I would spend more time in prayer each day, but I just have so many shows recorded on my DVR;” or “I would read my Bible more, but I have a ton of roll-over minutes on my cell phone plan this month.” You’ve probably never let silly things like that get in the way of spending time with God. If that is so, then why do you and I continually find ourselves missing the mark when it comes to what we should be doing?

I believe the problems lie with the other important things and relationships in our lives that we allow to creep in and before we know it, we’re doing too many important things to be able to do what really matters most – cultivate our relationship with God. I asked a group of my friends what most often kept them from spending time with the Lord; they listed things like work, school, children, housework, family obligations, and on and on. All very important relationships.

A Different Take on an Old Story

I recently came across the story in the Bible of the rich young ruler. In this story, there is a well-to-do young man who approaches Jesus and asks what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. In other words, “Jesus, what do I need to do to be able to have the same kind of relationship with God that you do?” After Jesus replies, the young man explains how he’s kept every commandment in the law since his youth. Jesus tells him to sell everything and follow Him, leaving the young man discouraged and sad because “he was very rich” (Luke 18:23 NASB)

Its after that part that caught my attention.

Beginning at verse 23, “But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” 28 Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.” 29 And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” (emphasis mine)

Is it possible that Jesus was referring to the fact that there will be some very important relationships or priorities that will get in the way of our relationship with God? Jesus’ list: house, wife, brothers, parents, children, looks very similar to the list my friends provided.

Getting It Right

I believe that verse could be read, “…there is no one who has chosen to pursue God’s kingdom before any other important things or relationships, who wasn’t able to have both those things and a relationship with God.”

Establishing the right order among our many priorities and relationships will allow us to make the most of all of our relationships. When you put God first, you’ll make room for none to be lacking. When you put the others before God, you run out of room every time.

What do you think about the various relationships in your life that are all vying for your time? Are you pursuing them in the right order with the right priorities? In what ways have you seen God provide in those areas when you’ve put your relationship with Him first?