Influencers Weekly Devotional

The Priorities of a Man of God

by

Rocky Fleming

"I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship." Romans 12:1 (Amplified Bible)     As a Christian man who has been trying to grow up all of my life, one of the most important aspects of my development by God as He has discipled me revolves around the adjustment of my personal priorities.  It has not been easy to come to grip with my self-centeredness and how my priorities need to be adjusted to accommodate someone else, or someone else's agenda, but especially God's agenda in my life.  It is not an easy fix, and what's more, it is a critical need so that God's man can make the impact he is capable of making when God is able to "flow" His grace and power through him, otherwise it would be restricted.  How would you answer if asked what you think should be your highest priority as a Christian?  What is more critical is to answer how you are doing with that priority you have established.   You hear me quote Oswald Chambers a lot.  I suppose it is because his words are laced with such biblical wisdom that they cause me to sit up and take notice, such as the following quote.  How do you think Oswald Chambers would have answered my question about his highest priority?   "The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me."  Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest   As we read the above words from Chambers, we need to ask how he came to conclude that his goal should be his unhindered communication with God?  Is that just a Chambers thing and only for him or is there aDivine directive the man discovered that reshaped his life, and we too should take heed of as well?  Although Chambers doesn't say that this unhindered communication with God was his highest goal in his spiritual life, one would conclude that it was at the top, if not his top goal.  From a spiritual standpoint, why wouldn't faithful service be mentioned?  Why wouldn't stewardship, or fellowship, or evangelizing, or feeding the poor be worthy of an honorable mention?  These are all good things; along with many other activities we know we should be doing, but still fall short of.  Could it be that we fall short because of a lot of busy activity and urgent things that get in the way of this top of the list thing?  Could it be that the other good areas of service are also affected because our life is so controlled by our busyness, we just do not have time to be involved elsewhere?   In 1984, Charles E. Hummel wrote a little 31 page pamphlet called The Tyranny of the Urgent.   I recommend it.   In essence, Hummel gave insight into time management and how urgent matters often run to the head of the line requiring an immediate response by us.  They are matters that are time sensitive and require immediate attention.  He also discovered that the urgent matters often prevent us from dealing with theimportant matters, which by the way the important matters greatly influence our overall good, and taking care of them will keep many issues from becoming urgent.  Therefore, unless we establish a priority to not allow the urgent matters to dictate our life's agenda, we will go from one urgent crisis to the next.  We will see ourselves living under the Tyranny of the Urgent.   Now this is not a new problem with 21^st century man.  Yes we are busy, busy, busy.  But, there were guys like that who also lived in the first century and Jesus spoke of them.  He had a different classification back then, but they were the same then as they are now.  This man's name back then was "Third Seed Man, and He defined these guys in His famous parable of the four seeds."  Read it for yourself in Mark 4:13-20.  Would He see your life as being in the forth seed category bearing abundant fruit, or in that third seed category which sounds so much like the Tyranny of the Urgent?  If you are a Third Seed Man, my question to you is do you want to do something about it?  If you do, you would be smart to heed Chambers' top priority, which is to have an unhindered communication with God.   The goal driven, bottom line thinking of the Third Seed Man would ask how having our communication line open with God would help in managing our time, and establishing better priorities?  Well to begin with, God created time and it stands to reason that He knows how to work the system.  If you need an efficiency expert advising you, would it not be best to have the Master of Efficiency who created time guiding you?   Sure it would be.  But to get that great wisdom God wants to give us for dealing with all the urgent and important issues of our life, we have to hear Him, and hearing God in an unobstructed way becomes our greatest priority.  So do you understand why Chambers said having good communication with God is his goal, maybe even his top goal?  Let's connect that thought with another:   Ronald Reagan called his economic strategy for this Country a "trickle down" strategy for economic growth.  Do you remember that term?  We could sure use Reagan's wisdom now for our economy.  But there is a similar wisdom available for you and me that uses a similar strategy.  It is called "trickle down wisdom."  In other words, the wisdom we get from God trickles down into every aspect of our life.  His wisdom brings order to our private world and balances out the chaos in our life, if we will listen to Him and obey.  Here's another thought:    And I will walk at liberty and at ease, for I have sought and inquired for [and desperately required] Your precepts. Psalms 119:45 (Amplified Bible)   The passage above is a picture of how I feel God wants His man to live.  He wants us to walk in liberty and peace.  That is the good news.  He wants this for you and me.  But, do we want it for our self badly enough that we are willing to make it a priority to gain it?  Look how the Psalmist explains how he found it.  He said he "sought it - inquired for God's precepts - and in fact, desperately required it."  Does that sound like it came easy for him?  Do you think this man could have found this peace and liberty because he does like we often do which is to seek peace and liberty for that reason alone?  I don't think so.  I think he sought God Himself, and he wanted to know what God knew about life, about time and about priorities.  When He sought God and His wisdom, then he found peace and liberty because God showed him how to live.  It is what you hear me say all the time.  It is in the abiding relationship with Christ that a life that God wants us to have is found.  The life God wants us to have is the fourth seed life, having escaped living in the condition of the Tyranny of the Urgent.  So, that is what is waiting for you if you are willing to make it a priority to find it.  But like Chambers said, it starts with making it your priority to have good, unobstructed communication with your King.  So, what are you waiting for?  Are you waiting for the time to do it?  Make time.  That is what a priority requires.  But in the long run, it becomes the best investment you will ever make into your own life.