Priorities
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
“True brilliance rarely needs to be announced.”
This quote came up in the show Rooster, and the person being consoled by it hated it. His rebuttal reflects our thoughts exactly: “But I want to be told I am brilliant!”
I have spent much of my life trying to be impressive. I have used grades, degrees, clothing, the beauty of my wife, the behavior of my child, and many other things to make myself appear impressive.
We all want to be impressive.
Sadly, in the pursuit of impressing others, we can forget to be impressed by God. What we accomplish on a small scale, God does on an incomprehensibly greater one. Nothing I could ever accomplish could compare with the creation of the world, the placement of the stars, or the ordering of the seasons. I could never split the sea, multiply food, walk on water, or bring the dead to life.
My accomplishments pale in comparison with my Creator!
Rather than clinging to God as the source and giver of all good things (James 1:17), I have bought, hook, line, and sinker, the lie that this world can bring true and lasting happiness, comfort, and peace. I have trusted what rusts and rots to satisfy the place God created only for Himself.
No wonder I am left empty, exhausted, and underwhelmed.
When I come to the end of myself, I realize that I am not all that bright or brilliant—one episode of Jeopardy! reveals that. As I seek to grow in Christlikeness day by day, one of the greatest barriers I face is letting go of my desire to impress.
Daily, I must fight the urge to be arrogant, prideful, or envious. Daily, I must choose to empty myself of my obsession with the things of this world so that I can be filled by the One who created the world.
What are you prioritizing over God?
How are you trying to be impressive at the expense of being impressed by God?
Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys.
I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival.
Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
