Priorities
Charlie's soccer team lined up at the end of the game this weekend to say, "Good game." Every single kid wanted to be at the front of the line. We get excited to be first at a restaurant. We book reservations weeks in advance. And it made me think.......
Holly and I paid extra for floor seats at a concert on Saturday. We got there 40 minutes early to find our spot, hit the bathroom, looked at the merch table, grabbed a water, got to know our "neighbors." Then the show started, and the guy in front of me was 6'5". And when you "sit" on the floor, everyone stands the whole time. So I spent the night leaning to see the stage we'd paid extra to be close to. We were even there from 6:15 to 11:30...And somewhere in those five hours I started asking myself: are our priorities straight?
We struggle to stay awake for one hour in church. We tell our kids to "be first" everywhere they go, but no one wants the front row on Sunday. We slip in the back so we can slip out early. We show up right on time, rush out the door, and get frustrated if the preacher goes long.
We'll learn every lyric our favorite artist ever wrote. We won't take the time to learn one Bible verse we could share with someone!! Something that could be the difference between heaven and hell for them.
We rearrange our whole week for a concert or a game if someone calls us today. But we can't commit to a church event, unless we know two weeks out, and even then, something better might come along.....
$20 feels steep in the offering plate. But it's cheap for downtown parking or a concert shirt. $500 for tickets is a "good deal" to go see someone who will never know your name. But $500 given back to God who provides it, who knows the number of hairs on your head, that feels like WAY too much to lose....
We won't pray out loud in front of people. But we'll sing our favorite song at the top of our lungs.
Are our priorities straight?
- Stewart Halcomb
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