Priorities

I always love a good story, and I ran across this one the other day.

• A lighthouse along a bleak coast was tended by a keeper who was given enough oil for one month and told to keep the light burning every night. One day a woman asked for oil so that her children could stay warm. Then a farmer came. His son needed oil for a lamp so he could read. Still another needed some for an engine. The keeper saw each as a worthy request and measured out just enough oil to satisfy all. Near the end of the month, the tank in the lighthouse ran dry. That night the beacon was dark and three ships crashed on the rocks. More than 100 lives were lost. When a government official investigated, the man explained what he had done and why. "You were given one task alone," insisted the official. "It was to keep the light burning. Everything else was secondary. There is no defense."

All of us have priorities in our lives. We have our family, our friends, our careers and other responsibilities that keep us so busy. The problem for most of us isn't finding priorities, its putting our list of priorities in order. Which comes first? How do I keep it first? What happens if I focus on the wrong thing. The man in this story faced a similar quandary. He knew what his job was, yet other things that sounded so "right" came along and caused him to lose focus. No one would want a woman and her children to freeze. None of us would want to deny a child light to read by. The light keeper just couldn't say say no and because of that he missed the mark of his top priority.

This past Sunday we looked at James chapter 4 and addressed the issue of priorities. The people that James spoke to there were dealing with the ramifications of a life spent looking around at each other instead of looking to the Father. James reminds his readers that that their number one priority should be submitting and humbling themselves before God. He tells them that if they do this then God will draw near to them and exalt them because of it. So often we get our priorities our of whack. We start putting all of our focus on our careers; and then we become discontent when we see someone doing better than we are. We turn our attention to our families and then are disillusioned when we see our kids crying and throwing food while the family at the next table looks like they are on a magazine shoot! If we focus on earthly things you will always miss the mark. James 4 would tell us to focus on God, love people and remember that life is short---do the right thing FIRST! (10) Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands...purify your hearts...Do that with daily times of prayer and scripture readings. Do that with daily times of repentance and meditation on His Word. Do that by focusing on His will and not your own. Keep your eyes on the prize; the race is hard but the race is short!

Speech

Do you recognize the name Jack Handy? For those of you under age 35 or so, Jack Handy was a skit on Saturday Night Live. To say Jack Handy was a skit however, isn't really fair. Jack Handy was more of an informational segment. During this portion of the show soft music would play while some majestic nature scene was being shown in the background. Once the mood was set a voice (presumably Jack Handy) would come on and give what could only be classified as a "Deep Thought". Some of my favorite Deep Thoughts were: "It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man"! Maybe even more useful than that one though is one that said, "If you ever drop you keys into a river of molten lava, let 'em go 'cause man they're gone"! My favorite though is one that could have been written about my house, "the face of a child says it all; especially the mouth part of the face"!

Over the last few years we have taught our kids several things. We have taught them how to read, write, play sports, ride a bike and lots of other fun and useful things. One thing we have never been able to teach our kids however, is how to control their tongues. Our kids tend to talk. A lot. A whole lot. Now those of you who know Karen and I are probably thinking that the apple didn't fall far from the tree, and you would be right. I have said many times that in a conversational setting all I need from you is to be there, I can handle both sides of the conversation. What I think is most interesting about all of this though is that Karen and I both got it from our father...Adam. You see the bible is full of stories of men and women who talked to much, said too little and got themselves into trouble because they couldn't control their tongues.

Last Sunday in class we looked at a passage from James chapter 3 that deals with this very subject. In James three he says among other things that; "If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check". We talked about how we all struggle with our tongues. We lie, we gossip, we complain and we curse. We are often like the people James describes in 3:9 who with our tongues, "praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in God's likeness". The only solution to this isn't something that you and I can come up with on our own. We should try and control what we say, we should watch our language and we should not gossip or complain. But in order to be people who do this consistently we need to be people who have the "wisdom that comes from heaven" (17). James was a man who believed and taught that our confession will change our behavior. One of the biggest areas of change for many of us should be the things that come out of our mouths. This week let us all seek God's face and ask for His wisdom in areas of speech. Be less critical of your spouse and see how it affects your marriage. Be more encouraging at work and see how your co-workers react. Quit telling the bad jokes and quit using coarse language and see who notices. Let us exhibit the control that only comes with wisdom obtained by a real relationship with Jesus. In other words---let the words that come out of your mouth be a reflection of the relationship that you have with Jesus in your heart.