HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 272
page A270
Pride continued
PROMISES FROM GOD
• PSA L M 1 8 :2 7 | You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud.
• MAT T H E W 2 3 :1 2 | “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble
themselves will be exalted.”
Priorities See also Decisions; Habits; Opportunities; Planning; Purpose
You’re having a very personal and significant conversation with a friend at the kitchen table.
Or you’re reading a Bible story with your young children just before tucking them into bed.
Then the phone rings. Many of us would answer the phone, because interruptions have
become top priorities in our culture. Our lives tend to skip from one urgent interruption to
another. And all the while, we miss what is really important. What are the things that matter
most in life, the true priorities of life? How can we distinguish true priorities from apparent
priorities, like a ringing phone? The Bible offers some answers.
How do I know what’s really important?
P
• MA R K 1 2 :2 9 -3 1 | Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen,
O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God
with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally
important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
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Jesus clearly stated the two greatest priorities for every person: to love God and to love
others, and to do it with all you’ve got. When you sincerely love God, you will also love
others.
• 1 S A MU E L 1 4 :3 5 | Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first of the altars he
built to the Lord.
Don’t confuse what’s urgent with what’s important. Saul finally got around to building an
altar to God—months and possibly years after he was first anointed king. The urgent had
taken him away from what was really important—God.
How can I tell if God is really my first priority?
• E X O DU S 2 0 :3 | “You must not have any other god but me.”
• L U K E 1 2 :3 4 | “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
• J O S H U A 2 4 :1 5 | “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will
serve. . . . But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
If God is the center of your life, you will make your relationship with him your highest priority. You will long to spend time with him, to talk to him, to listen to him, to think often about
him, to please him, and to obey his Word. Your heart will yearn for him. And it’s the heart
that really matters to God.
• MAT T H E W 6 :3 3 | “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else.”
• C O L O S S I A NS 3 :2 | Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
Spending eternity with God and others you love is your highest goal, therefore everything
you do today should be done to invest in eternity.
How do I set priorities?
• DE U T E R O NO MY 1 0 :1 2 -13 | “What does the Lord your God require of you? He requires
only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love
him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s
commands.” (See note on page 169.)
• J O H N 3 :1 6 | “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
• PR O V E R B S 3 :6 | Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
• J E R E MI A H 3 5 :1 5 | “But you would not listen to me or obey me.” (See note on page 700.)