Pilgrims On The Way

mardi, mai 30, 2006

Priorities

How can we place our daily hope in a Lord Who we don't daily know? Where else in our day-to-day grind can we find hope/purpose/joy? We need to know Him who we have believed!!

"For the word of the Lord is right and true;

he is faithful in all he does....

For He spoke, and it came to be....

Blessed is the (household) whose God is the LORD,...

He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do....

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,...

We wait in hope for the LORD;

he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love rest upon us,

O LORD,

even as we put our hope in you."

Psalm 33 (various verses)

In attempting to prioritize my life- needs, necessary focuses, not getting myself exhausted by the "extra" demands of daily grind(and even discerning what are "extras")- I ask myself what the priority might be?

Here's a morning thought for May 30th, 2006:
Could my priority for today (essentially every day) be the 15 minute moment I just spent reading my Bible and meditating on it?
Could the remaining 23 hours and 45 minutes of this day be the bonus, or "periphery" moments of my day?
Was I- are we- not created ultimately for community and relationship with God?

"If I ever achieved an alert and active concentration on this spiritual work within my soul, it would then not matter at all what I did in eating or drinking, in sleeping or in speaking, or in any of my outward activities. And certainly I can tell you that I would much rather attain freedom in these things in this way, by not needing to be concerned about them, than by concentrating a great deal of attention on them." - from The Cloud of Unknowing translated by Ira Progoff

I've been knowing a supernatural, semi-subconcious perspective that has been that underground "peace like a river" through the dry, rocky terrain of the present journey. It is almost as though the 15 minutes of purpose in my morning translate into giving purpose and meaning (and JOY) to the remaining, and often mundane, tasks/relationships of the day.
"It is no longer I but Christ who lives in me."

I would even say that my presence with Christ is priority over my presence with my children. And then, because I've fulfilled my purpose for the day, the remaining "accomplishments" of the day- loving my family, encouraging my neighbor, even folding the laundry- won't seem so much as a duty or a make-sure-it-gets-done (or a priority at all). It will become automatic; as though a pure impulse is surging through my being. It will just get done right!
(well, the laundry can wait until tomorrow).

"Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord to Thee;
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love...."
- Francis R. Havergae

Because He is filling and sustaining me,
Tanya

Posted by Jeremy J Harnett :: 7:28 a.m. :: 1 comments