Everything Else, BUT JESUS

I am a list person. I thrive off lists. I LIVE off lists. Just ask my family and they will tell you I have a running list of things to do, places to go, things to bring. And if it doesn’t make the list, it’s not happening. It’s not being taken. It’s not being done.

Cleaning the bathroom is often on the list. But as you’d maybe expect, it’s the LAST thing that gets crossed off the list. Unfortunately, if I write it down, it needs to get done. But maybe it’s on the list for a few days because I absolutely DREAD doing it. I don’t know what it is about cleaning the bathroom, but it is the one thing I just DESPISE doing! We have one bathroom that we really use, so it maybe takes me 15 minutes. Mere minutes! That’s it! But I still cannot bring myself to do it and do everything else before THAT. I’ll take out the garbage, mop, vacuum, you name it, well before the bathroom.

My friend, we live our lives as Christians, in the same way.

We are willing to arrange our lives around everything else, but Jesus. We are willing to miss church so that we can go to that soccer game. We are willing to sacrifice family devotional time in order to get to the event on time. We are willing to spend our money, time, and resources for the pleasures of this world, but Jesus? That’s too much. Tithing is too much. Getting up for church is asking too much. Doing devotions takes too much time. Praying to a God we don’t have time for, not worth it. Talking about Jesus is uncomfortable. We can do it on our own, it’s okay, we’ve made it this far!

With the “holiday” season upon us, we have ample opportunity to be thankful and celebrate Christ’s birth. We have AMPLE time to reflect and cherish what we should be really cherishing. But then the holiday season ends. Then what? The mundane, the routines, etc., but where does “Jesus” fit in?

Instead of rearranging our lives around everything else, what if we arranged our lives around JESUS? Around our faith? Around the things that bring us closer to Jesus? What if, WHAT IF, JESUS was who we arranged our lives around?

This is something I find as a parent, being challenged with too. What are we arranging our lives around? Our pleasures or our Christ? It’s either one or other. Not both.

Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

It’s not just about money – it’s about lifestyle. We can’t serve the world and God. It’s either one or the other.

Let’s arrange our lives around JESUS and when we do so, everything else will fall into place. Even cleaning my bathroom.