I don’t know about you, but I don’t often struggle in knowing what is most important. Where I struggle is doing what is most important.
As a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, I thank God that he has made what is most important plainly known. Jesus clearly tells us that the most important commands of God are two:
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”
Matthew 12:29-31 (emphasis added)
Relationship with God
The command to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength is plain. And it addresses the ways God would like me to grow in my relationship with him.
- Heart – my passion, my affections
- Soul – my will, volition, my very being
- Mind – my knowledge and understanding
- Strength – my actions and efforts
This, of course, is not any new teaching. But it is clearly what God wants from me in my relationship with him. It affects every aspect of my life from study and thought to what I do and where my heart is focused. And it requires something of me.
It requires that I invest my time and effort – my life – into getting to know God. Getting to know about God through study and conversation. Getting to know God personally through experience and action. The same way that I would get to know my neighbor.
I don’t do a great job of this. I’m not consistent. But I trust God to work in and through me to know and love him. And to know and love others.
Relationships with Others
I don’t do a great job of knowing and loving others. In this, I fail in three general areas. And these are the areas I where I want to see God help me improve.
- I want to do a better job of meeting and getting to know people.
- I want to invest more (quantity) of my time into the lives of others.
- I want for the time I share with others to be meaningful. Not just hours, but also depth.
My “practical” priorities are all messed up
I believe that what is most important on a grand scale is clearly known. For me, however, it breaks down in knowing what is most important to do in the moment and then actually doing it.
To say it another way, I understand God’s priorities intellectually. Even emotionally – I want to align with his plan for my life. But it breaks down when I put my priorities into practice.
Sometimes I’m lazy.
Sometimes I’m scared.
Sometimes I’m confused.
Sometimes I’m just selfish.
Sometimes I’m distracted by life.
How about you?
How well do you know and do what is most important?
Do your passions align with the passions of God?
Do you have any wisdom to share with your fellow travelers on this journey with God?
