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Priorities


          “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

                        One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
           Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:35-40)

As we are looking toward 2018, and setting the goals I mentioned yesterday, as we get our vision checked, it seems reasonable that we should consider what Jesus considered a priority. It’s so easy to get our priorities messed up. This is something I’ve been struggling with a little. When I came south this year, my intent was to love. Of course, I wanted to love Dad by taking care of him, but I also wanted to love the people in the community where I live by doing my newspaper bit, singing in the choir, taking pictures, and by learning to work the sound systems. It was all going to well, until Dad took a turn for the worse and I pulled out of everything. I felt guilty, and therefore a little angry, because I was trying to do good, trying to love, and now I can’t.
          I know, Dad is the priority. He needs to be. I'm not complaining, but Dad being a priority doesn’t stop part of me from struggling with it. You may face the same dilemma. Setting priorities doesn’t reduce the pull of the things with lower priorities. Sometimes, it has the opposite effect. The other things demand more.
          As we consider our goals for next year, where will loving God, and loving our neighbor as ourselves fit into the list? How will we keep them in their rightful place? It would do us all good to prepare for other things to demand more, and to prepare our response to those demands.

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