by Dave Schultz
The Old Man on Priorities
When next we met, he sat me down and said, “Look.
I want you to really think how much you love God.”
I asked why. “Because, for some people, He’s just one
thing among many--as if they care for their soul
no more than mind or body. To call someone Lord
you must love them! To obey, you must hear them first!
“Do you even know what it means to put Him first?
You won’t find out from today’s Christians. Better look
into your Bible. The woman who brought our Lord
perfume--she fell at His feet, knowing He was God.
How many of us would likewise humble our soul
and fall prostrate, submitting to the Mighty One?
“Darn few, would be my guess. Well, really only One--
only Jesus perfectly put His Father first,
submitting to the torment of body and soul.
Why was that? He didn’t think of himself, or look
at it as his own life--since all life comes from God,
all life belongs to, and should glorify, the Lord.
“You’d think that as Christians, we would treat Christ our Lord
as our example, wouldn’t you? That maybe one
or two of us would follow Him and honor God?
We shouldn’t make a move until we seek Him first,
nor perform a single action until we look
to find His will! Each thought and word should bless our soul!
“Imagine living as though your immortal soul
was at stake, heaven in the balance, and the Lord
watching! What would God see in you if He should look?
Have you kept your master’s house swept and clean, like one
eager to greet Him? Or is it now your house first,
built around your wants, with the cracks filled in by God?
“The purpose of our lives is to glorify God
with a chaste body and a kind and loving soul.
All that we have or are is from Him. So our first
and only pleasure should be to worship the Lord!
Or else what use are we? I think I can find one
or two verses about wrath, if I really look...”
Once he’d gone, I committed my soul back to God
the Holy One: “Thy will and not mine be done, O Lord.
Be first in my life, and be everywhere I look.”
