Over at Cherish The Home, Michele had a musing on a recent sermon from her church. It has affected me in such a profound way that I feel today I must share it.
Speaking of church our Pastor preached from the book of Colossians (one of my very favorite New Testament books) and one thing that really stood out to me from last night's sermon was when our Pastor read Colossians 1:18b:"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. ~ Colossians 1:18 (emphasis mine)Our Pastor then asked us, "Does Christ have preeminence in your life or do you only give Him the eminence in your life?" He then went on to explain the difference as eminence is when you give Christ a high place in your life, which sounds pretty good. However if He has preeminence then Christ is above everything and everyone. He doesn't just have a high place in your life, He has the center, most important place in your life. Hmm, lots for me to ponder here....
Having read this I realized that the Lord has been given eminence in my life but not always nor even often preeminence. I have always (since I've been saved) held the Lord in a place of honor and never blasphemed Him. That's not to say I haven't sinned many many times and fallen flat on my face, but looking back it seems that I've put the Lord on a priority escalator in my life. Sometimes He is going up and some times He is going down and other things are going up. The point I'm making is that recently through my illness these months, through the trials with our adoption and other things I've searched Him out more and more. I've sought to claim that intimacy with Him that the Spirit within me craves. When I read her post it hit me. He has always had an important role in my life, but not always the most important role. I keep taking my eyes off the prize. Oh I see Him in my peripheral vision but my focus keeps turning to other things and then I find my self sitting there confused with all these other things. That word confusion always rings a bell in my head because it reminds me that "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace..." 1 Corinthians 14:33. It is then that I realize that I have lost my focus and must refocus on Him.
So now on to how to give Him preeminence or place Him above everything and anything in my life. I don't know all the answers to that one but now that I know the lack and see the difference, I can allow Him to show me all the things that I have put in front of Him and together we can change it. I confess I find it a little scary or intimidating because I'm a very practical person and I have always been disgusted with those who are so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good. You know the ones I mean. They see someone poor or sick and they say "I'll pray for you" but they wont deliver them a bag of groceries or bring them some hot soup. But then the Lord reminds me that "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26) and I'm not that kind of person anyway and chides me a bit saying "Faith daughter. Trust me. Would I do that? Would I want that?"
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5&6) Another way of saying He will make your paths straight is to say He will direct your paths, and honestly He will never direct you down the wrong path.
So, this has been a long one, but it's what's on my heart this morning as I arise.
1 comment:
Thank you so much for sharing wit us! This post was good for me to read, and I definitely struggle very much in this area...way more than I should. I hope you have a good day today, and I'll be praying for you!
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