First Things First
A CALL TO WISDOM
PROVERBS 24:27
Prepare your
outside work,
make it fit for
yourself in the field;
and afterward build
your house.
If paraphrased, this
verse might read, “Prioritize your life by putting first things first, like developing
a career and preparing for the future; after which, begin focusing on what
comes next, such as starting a family and acquiring a personal household; because
then it is a good time to do so.”
Much pain and struggling could be prevented in our
personal lives if and when we would get our priorities straight and practice
good stewardship of the great many opportunities that are our's to oversee. We need to always remember that we are responsible for
being ready for the future; before making present comforts a priority.
With 86,400
seconds allotted to each of us everyday, how we spend them will determine how
we live when we get older. This is why
our priorities today are so important.
If we get them wrong - for a long enough time span, - we will likely
suffer in the long run.
David prayed to
God, “…teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” PSALM 90:12
He also asked, “LORD make me to know my
end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.”
PSALM 39:4
The
issue of priorities is seen in the little story of the grasshopper who played
around all summer long while the ant worked and worked; but when the seasons
changed and the weather turned cold, the grasshopper was unprepared; suffering
due to misplaced priorities.
Persons with this “priority issue” are
called sluggards in the writings of David’s son, Solomon. He is not a fan, to say the least.
In PROVERBS 6:6-8, he wrote,
“Go to the
ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise: 7) who having no
guide, overseer or ruler, 8) provides her meat in the summer and
gathers her food in the harvest.”
In verse
9 Solomon continued, “How long will
you sleep, O sluggard? When will you
arise out of your sleep? 10)
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11)
so shall your poverty come as one that that travels and your want as an armed
man.”
In PROVERBS 13:4a he said, “The soul of the sluggard desires, and has
nothing:…”
In PROVERBS 20:4, he also said, “The sluggard will not plow because of the
cold; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.”
When we consider these verses in light of
our opening - PROVERBS 24:27 - it is clearly important that we get and keep our
priorities right, even if it means hard work when we want to do otherwise.
Lord,
Help me to never
forget the value of priorities; including everything important, while keeping
things in their proper order so that You are honored first always; nothing
forgotten.
