Who's Number One?

Do your words match up with your actions? Do you say you value one thing and then do another? God had a message for Haggai to bring to His people. They had returned to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile and were done with idol worship and wicked living. They valued their relationship with God once again!

Unfortunately, their actions were not matching up with their words. They said they loved God, but His temple remained unfinished. The Israelites had been excited and committed to rebuilding the temple, but after awhile became discouraged and quit. Now they were only interested in doing what they wanted to do to make their own lives more comfortable and prosperous. God instructs them in Haggai 1:5 to “Give careful thoughts to your ways.”

God’s people were, and still do today, suffer from confused and out of perspective priorities. We say we value one thing, but our priorities say another. Our values and priorities are reflected in how we use our resources – time, money, strength and talent. We say God is number one, but then we relegate Him to a lesser number on our “to-do” lists. We say others and our relationships are important to us, but we make no time for them. We say we value our health, but continue to make poor choices. We say we value our own well-being, but do nothing to strengthen our own spiritual, emotional and physical lives.

Here are three steps we can take to help clear up some of this confusion about our misplaced priorities:

1) Evaluate: We all have things in our day that must be done. I call these our “everyday essentials”. But what about all the extra stuff we try to cram into our lives? Sometimes we need to step back and evaluate what we are doing and why we are doing it? Is there something you’ve committed to that’s causing tension in your family/relationships? Are you devoting too much time and money doing something you don’t really enjoy, but were pressured into doing? Are there things you’d like to be involved in, but don’t have any extra time in your schedule?

Ask yourself: “Is my schedule full of temporary or eternal valued activities?” Do the hours I spend watching television, playing video/computer/online games, shopping, talking on the phone/texting, etc. have any kind of lasting, positive impact on others? (There are some women who spend so much time doing these things, they don’t have time to meet the needs of their family and unfortunately, that is creating a lasting impact, just not a positive one!)

On the other hand, eternal valued activities don’t have to be major things. It’s simply making sure you’re investing time in and making a lasting, positive impact on the lives of others. It could be by just giving someone your undivided attention (which requires all phones to be turned off!). Showing someone you care by doing something as small as sending a card of encouragement – remember what those are? They are made of paper and involve a hand-written message!

* Try incorporating an eternal valued activity in your day and see how you feel!

2) Eliminate: If you see from your evaluation that a majority of your daily activities are fleeting, time-consuming and time-wasting things, you need to seriously consider eliminating some of them. Eliminating things we enjoy from our schedule is painful; that’s why we try so hard to make it all work. We feel if we let something go, we may be seen as weak and that super-woman persona will be tarnished. Doesn’t the world tell us it’s respectable to be stressed-out and exhausted at the end of our day? It shows we’re being productive and accomplishing so much……but at whose expense?

It’s okay to eliminate things/activities/commitments and yes, even people from your daily schedule. And when you do, you’ll be surprised at how much more time and energy you have for investing in eternal valued activities – making a positive impact on other people’s lives!

* What one or two useless activities can you eliminate starting today? It may be hard to make the separation at first, but it will be so worth it.

3) Educate: We must educate ourselves on the things that distract us from what’s really important. These are usually different for everyone – that’s why it’s so vital that we learn to recognize them. Some people get distracted mentally with their thoughts, fears and doubts. Others are distracted physically, many times by other people pulling them away from what they value as important. Then some are distracted spiritually. They are allowing the enemy to “steal, kill and destroy…” (John 10:10a) all that is good in their life by filling it with temporary valued things. Busyness, out of control activities, an overbooked schedule and confused priorities are his main distractions.

* Take time today to acknowledge your biggest distractions. Don’t give the enemy another victory.

Can you imagine what your life would look like if you had time to pursue the unique purpose God designed you for? When you could spend the time He’s given you serving Him and others and not your schedule? And when you could easily recognize the needs of others and have the energy to meet them?

Joe Stowell reminds us that “Without a strong sense of calling and purpose, life is nothing more than routine busyness.”

BLOG COMMENT: Share with us what distracts you the most from filling your life with what’s most important?