All Of Me

So, I’ve been struggling with prioritizing lately. I spoke with my mom Sue about this a month or so ago because I was just feeling like I couldn’t get it all together. I so appreciate my conversation with her. It was so encouraging and uplifting. It gave me the confidence I needed to keep on searching and growing. I just felt like I needed to share what I’ve found in my search.

So, we all know the order that we’re supposed to prioritize things: God, husband, self, children, work, friends, etc… but we also all know very well that often our priorities tend to get mixed up. I also know that God needs to be my number one priority but I wasn’t sure how to ensure he claimed that spot in my life and how to maintain Him in that spot permanently. I got into my Word and read and read and read some more and this is what God has put on my heart.

God gets my first of everything. He gets the first of my time, money, energy and so on. My first is usually my best. I have the most amount of time, the most amount of money, the most amount of energy before I do anything else with it. When we look at tithing, we should give it to the Lord before we do anything else with our money. If we wait until the end of the month, we are often short on money and end up giving God our leftovers. When we give to God first without hesitation we are forced to rely on Him to provide for us. We build this relationship of trust and lean into Him more significantly. This example works with our energy as well. I often find that working out at the end of the day is a bust. I’ve spent all my energy and it becomes so easy to create excuses to not do it. If I work out before I expend all of my energy for the day, then I can push harder and go further. When I allot time with God before the busyness of my day, I can go deeper into His Word and grow nearer to Him.

When I give God the first part of my day, I am giving Him all of me- my attention and focus. I love this passage in Lamentations 3:22-23, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassion never fails. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” It is such a great reminder that each morning His love and compassion can restore us. He showers us with His grace and mercy with each new day. Whether I had a horrible day the day prior does not matter, because I am cleansed and forgiven. He is faithful and waiting to lavish us with His love. He wants to fill us up with His fruit of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. How much better our day can go when we give God our first and let Him fill our cup.

In Matthew 22:37, we are told to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.” It’s becoming clear to me that in order for me to give my all to God I need no distractions and I need time. Becoming aware of what we require to build and embrace our relationship with God is key to establishing Him in His rightful place in our lives.

I know that I can approach God at any point in my day and check in for guidance, grace, forgiveness, encouragement… but if this is the only type of relationship I have with Him, it will be very shallow. It will never develop and grow into anything more significant. I can pick up a phone and chat with a friend for a few minutes here and there but will that relationship ever grow into something more if we don’t take the time to invest in one another’s lives or to know each other more. It is those times that you sit down over coffee one-on-one and delve deeper into the nitty-gritty struggles and successes of each others lives. This is what God wants with us. He wants to sit down with us each day for us to know Him more.

Many Blessings!