Know Your Priorities
- Category: Gospel Truth
- Date 22-11-2015
- 338 views
A priority is something which has greater importance than all others and, therefore, deserves to be given more attention. It is something which must be done first, thus it is given the topmost place in the hierarchy of a person’s choices. It is the most important concern that one must tackle before anything else.
An antelope will naturally run into the bush to avoid the hunter’s bullet. However, it cannot stay in the hiding once the bush catches a fire. It will jump out, regardless of the risk of getting shot. The priority will be how to escape from the greater danger of being burnt alive. The antelope must choose one risk to take at all costs.
A young woman may get various suitors but must know what she wants in a man. Is it appearance? Money? Discipline? Brains? Parentage? Education? What else? While all these may be nice, she will go with the man who possesses the most desirable ideal in order to get a fulfilling marriage. If she cannot define her priorities, she is likely to enter a marriage she will never enjoy.
Life demands making choices from among many goals a person has. A correct choice, a priority, automatically attracts other benefits to the person involved. Jesus Christ was an advocate of setting priorities and taught that the most important purpose of our existence is to know and worship the Creator who grants everything else we desire. He said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and He will give you everything you need” (Luke 12:31).
We have a lot of needs in life but the soul is the most important treasure everyone has and must toil to protect. Jesus calls it hollowness when a man pursues material things at the expense of the soul, which should be the priority. “What good is it to gain the whole world while destroying your soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). Saint Theresa said, “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life...If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”
Martha and Mary had conflicting priorities when Jesus visited them at home. They had to entertain him with both food and a chat. Martha used all her energy to make a meal while Mary just sat down to talk with the guest. Martha was sure that a guest had to get food as a priority, so she asked Jesus to rebuke Mary for evading work. Instead, Jesus replied that Martha had got her priorities wrong, “…you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part” (Luke 10:41-42).
At one point, Jesus called a man to be his follower. The man was not ready to take the critical step to follow the Lord and, hence, looked for an excuse to dodge the responsibility. He said that whereas he was willing to follow Jesus, he wanted to return home and bury his father first. Jesus again faulted him for getting his priorities wrong. He told him, “Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead…” (Matthew 8:22).
Scholars say that the man’s father was not actually dead. He was not even bedridden with sickness. The man apparently meant that he wanted to stay with his father until he died, possibly several years later. Many people tend be preoccupied with petty affairs and, as a result, miss great opportunities which come looking like uncomfortable conditions. It takes a steady personality to recognise or set correct priorities.
Prophet Joshua had a chance to alert the Israelites against paying lip service to the worship of Yahweh. He proclaimed that the community had the choice to make God a priority in their lives or to relegate Him to the margins. Knowing the rightful place of the Lord, however, Joshua informed the Israelites that he would not adhere to the popular state of affairs. He would lead his own family to serve God, “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness…. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you… as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord….” (Joshua 24: 14-16).
Through Moses, God delivered Ten Commandments to the Israelites. Jesus Christ simplified the commandments when a Pharisee tried to test him with a question on whether any of the commandments was more important than others. He used the moment to point out the priority commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the most important of the commandments” (Matthew 22:37-38).
Writing to the Christians, St. Paul emphasises that love is the finest virtue a person can have. He said, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels…. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge… if I have a faith that can move mountains…. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body… but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 1-3).
Someone said, "Success is only another form of failure if we forget what our priorities should be."
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Gospel Truth, Leadership Magazine