We live an ever increasingly fragmented life. We have 86,000 seconds in a day, and it seems s though we cannot divide them adequately between all that is demanded of us and needed by us. Most of us are pulled in so many directions that we feel a little like William Wallace in his last scene in Braveheart. We certainly would like some freedom from the tyranny of the urgent that ungulfs us.

The best among us (a group of which I am not a member) have grown adept at what we call prioritizing. You know the drill, make a list of all the things required or demanded of us and put them in linear order, the most important at the top and the most dispensable at the bottom. The list changes according to the “Squeaky Wheel Principle.” Even the religiously conscientious will include God at the top of the list of priorities, asserting the He is the most important thing/person on our list.

Jesus, however, is not interested in occupying the top spot on our priority list. While we would never explicitly state it, we can put Him at the top of the list, give him token time, and then move on to the other items on the list leaving Him behind. Notice carefully the position Jesus desires in our lives:

And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything He might be preeminent. (Colossians 1:18)

Jesus does not want to be preeminent OVER the things in our life, but He wants to be the most important thing IN it.   Instead of being one item on a list of many, even the top item on the list, He instead wants to be the reason for us engaging all of those other items. Jesus wants to use the roles of my life for His purposes.

I challenge you today to look for ways throughout this day to use the situations of the day for His purpose in your life. Speak a word of encouragement to those you encounter. Spread the love of Jesus, be patient and kind to people, offer to pray for those around you, invite them to church or, better yet, as you go on tour way, tell someone what Jesus has done for you.

The challenge is to change the priority paradigm from a linear list over which Jesus sits at the top, to a multi-spoked wheel with Jesus at the hub giving support, meaning, and value to everything in our life.