What are your priorities today?

Acts 20:24
²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (NIV)

In our prayer time for Uvalde last night, a mom was leaving and said that she will hold her little ones tighter each morning because tomorrow has no guarantee.

The horror of the Uvalde shooting will loom for years and for some, it always will. Yet, we know God will continue to work this tragedy for the good. In my prayer time, the Lord gave me a vision of Jesus bending over these young children to comfort them as He received them into His kingdom. He is working now to bring comfort to the families and loved ones and all who have been devastated who remain. We need comfort, but what should we learn?

The lessons are many and will continue to reveal themselves, but one thing we must do in the aftermath is taking hold of our children tighter. To love better not only our children but one another. Paul’s words today remind us that our highest priority is the mission God has given us. But how many things do we place on our list of tasks that push us quickly past those we love each day. To pause each morning and often to embrace and speak words of love and life to one another is what we must learn to do.

I have long said there is a demonic spirit of busyness keeping us from being still so that we might know God more intimately, but this same spirit can reduce our daily interactions with loved ones to passing quickly between coffee and grabbing our toast as we rush off for the day. But this is not our purpose. This is not what we have been called to. We are here, loved by God, to love God, and to love one another. This means making time, turning off the devices, and saying what needs to be said to one another. Aren’t these our priorities for today?

Even in ministry, even when we are helping one another in times like this, that same spirit of busyness can keep us in a modality of movement hindering the stillness of our souls necessary to connect with one another on a spiritual level. If we learn anything from Uvalde, let’s learn to slow down and embrace our loved ones that we might exchange words stoked in meaning beyond the casual conversations that tend to clutter our time. Let’s love better each day. This is our highest priority. The people God has given us to love are our highest priorities today.

Prayer: Lord, help me remember there is a greater life to be lived above the menial tasks of this earth. Help me to love better with the love of Christ. Amen.