Priorities

 I've been thinking about something lately in my own life and I thought I'd share a few things I have realized.  First, no one's salvation depends on me.  Salvation depends on God alone.  I, therefore, do not have to do everything.  I don't have to say "yes" to every opportunity.  I don't have to say "no" to my family so I can do something for the church.  I don't have to say "yes" when people ask me to do things for them.  

 Does that mean I'm going to shut down and do nothing?  Of course not.  The point is that I need to be careful to do what God is calling me to do and only what He is calling me to do.  Anything else is a distraction.  God has called me first to be His.  This means my top priority needs to be my relationship with Him - worship, prayer, Bible study, etc.  Secondly, He has called me to be a wife and a mom.  That means that my family needs to be my priority right behind God.  After that, He has called me to some church work and a job.  For me, the church work (women's ministry) is more of a calling than the job is, so that needs to be just behind my family.  My job comes in last place. 

 The thing is, that isn't what the world teaches.  The world teaches us to define ourselves by our jobs.  The world teaches us that we need to let other people raise our kids and that family time comes in behind sports, school events, work, and basically everything else.  The world teaches us to live our lives upside down.  That's why it doesn't work.

 So what has God given you for your priorities?  May I suggest that we need to prayerfully sit down and let Him reorder our lives with His priorities rather than the world's?  What do we need to get out of our lives so that we aren't distracted?  Sometimes that means giving up good things.  Things that other people tell us are great ministries and "kingdom work".  But if God hasn't called us to do those things or He hasn't called us to do those things right now, they aren't our responsibility. That means that if we are trying to do them we are disobeying God and we are taking away opportunities from others who should be doing those things.  

 Everything isn't up to us.  God can function just fine without us.  He chooses to use us, but let Him choose where and when rather than acting like we have to save the world all by ourselves.  That's His job.

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