PRIORITY

But ONE THING is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her – Luke 10:42

The average person never seems to find the time to do all they would like to do. Activities, duties, and responsibilities crowd our schedules. Besides sleeping, hygiene, eating, and working, many other tasks compete for inclusion in our daily and weekly agendas. We simply need to prioritize! Priorities are the options that are considered more important than others at any point in time; in terms of activities, desires, duties, needs or tasks. Martha invited Jesus to her house. While the Master was occupied in teaching, Martha was distracted with kitchen cores (v.40), whereas Mary sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to His Word (v. 39). The Lord said: Mary has chosen the good part (v. 42). This suggests that in this context, listening to Christ’s teaching was of higher priority than physically feeding Him. Prior to this, Jesus had taught on the priority of Love in Action (vs. 30-36). We must learn to prioritize in the light of eternity!

To prioritize means “to arrange or do in order of priority or to give a high priority to. Prioritizing is the ranking of options in order of importance, value or significance. There is always the temptation to try to do everything at once, especially when one is under pressures; hence the need to set priorities; to concentrate on and accomplish few things very well or concentrate on the things you do best! Prioritizing prevents purposeless drifting from one desire, activity, or programme, to another, with no tangible progress or sense of purpose.  Prioritizing enhances performance, effectiveness and excellence: average people try to do far too many things with mediocrity rather than a few things with excellence. This is unscriptural. Even God had a priority-programme for each day of creation. No wonder His products came out “very good” (Gen.1:31).  

Sadly, many people try to solve the problem of limited time by reducing or entirely eliminating important family relationships, intimate communication with their children, and spiritual pursuits. Some people virtually stop reading their Bibles or relegate it to a minor portion of their day. Others minimize their prayer time or attendance at Christian meetings. All too often, people eliminate spiritual fellowship or reduce these vital portions of their lives to very little, with awful repercussions. Even married couples do not spend quality time with each other. Wisdom demands that we make time for our priorities; and God – our Creator, Sustainer, and Father – knows what is best for our lives, and is best suited to define our priorities. His Word reveals the priorities He has established for our lives. We need to recognize the priorities that God wants in our lives.

Prioritizing demands total trust in and dependence on God, and good judgement based on the knowledge of His Word and Will. Experience, practice, and training acquired in life may also count. Learn to relate Priorities to Purpose: do not allow your energy, time, talents or treasures get side-tracked into involvements that do not contribute to God’s Purpose for your Life! You recognize the relationships or sequences between options, by asking: “If I have to abandon everything else but ONE, what one thing would remain?” Keep asking that question until all options are ranked in a hierarchy. As you evaluate the alternatives, choose what is most pleasing to God, beneficial to your spiritual wellbeing, and would bless others. Thus, you’ll prioritize the numerous activities that compete for your attention. Have you ordered your priorities for this New Year?