“Turn clocks ahead one hour.” That is a note to self and I put it right by my bedside clock. I have to have notes for everything, in front of my face, or I will very likely forget whatever it was I needed to remember. I have many appointments, especially medical related, and other various and sundry (sounds real Biblical, eh?) responsibilities I have to track, and I’m not even running my own home yet!

I can’t blame chemo-brain for my inability to “multi-task” because it was happening long before the “C” word entered my life. However, I’ve read and heard about articles telling us we shouldn’t be trying to juggle so many objects (responsibilities) anyway, that our brains are not wired to do that well. Something is bound to “drop”. I believe they are right. We are losing our ability to focus and do a task well because we’ve bought into the idea that we have to be doing all these other things at the same time. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

Yet there are things which are true priorities for our lives and we need to identify them and restructure our lives to be sure they have their proper place (that would be Numero Uno, Dos, etc.).

God’s been working on me for a long time on these issues. I’ve had the opportunity since forced to be less active while going through cancer treatment, to take time to do the really important things in life. Spiritual disciplines are easy to skimp on in the midst of a busy routine. We excuse ourselves more than we should, and I have been guilty of that most of my life. I have benefitted from good time in the Word and prayer over the past year, and I want to continue doing what I need to do (it is “discipline”) to nurture my relationship with my Lord as my responsibilities increase.

See, the spiritual disciplines are more than just actions; they are actions designed to train our hearts to know the Lord more deeply. They won’t really work effectively unless we want them to work. Habits of the body and mind are good. But they are not the end in themselves. The end is to have our heart changed to love the living God, continuing to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the source of our actions (the religious motions we go through) being our heart, not just our minds or bodies.

Traumatic interruptions in our lives, like cancer or other illnesses, economic reversals, you name it, can be doorways to greater understanding and growth when we allow our devastation to be turned to education by God. When we find ourselves flat on our faces before God, because we have been dealt a blow which has knocked us flat and we realize there is no One else to go to but God, we can change the whole tenor of our experience from despair to hope by truly humbling our hearts before the Lord, becoming teachable to whatever he has to teach us. We are already in the proper position.

The trick is to maintain that position of the heart (humility) and actions which support God’s teaching (spiritual disciplines and acts of obedience to God) when we are increasingly encumbered with other responsibilities of life. Do we really believe what we’ve been learning at the feet of Jesus? Or will the other “voices” around us which call for our attention, drown His voice, and give the lie to all we say we believe by the way we actually live our lives. God forbid.

The ladies’ Bible study I attend on Thursdays has been reading through the book of Mark, according to a calendar of New Testament readings for the year our pastor is distributing to encourage reading the Bible (great idea!). This week one of the readings was in Mark 12:29ff. Jesus was asked which was the foremost commandment Moses gave in the Law. Without hesitation (I infer) Jesus rattles off a heartfelt, “ ‘Hear O Israel! The LORD our God is one Lord; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ And the second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (He was quoting from Deuteronomy 6).

When the scribe answered Jesus back he agreed that to do these things was greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices (our equivalent would be all our church attendance and other religious activity including giving money and volunteering, etc.). Jesus made the fascinating comment that this scribe was “not far from the kingdom of God”.

I’d say this was a pretty strong hint as to what is important to God and therefore what we should make our priorities.

Numero Uno: Love God with all we are; heart (undivided, single hearted, sincere love), soul (deepness of feeling, fervent love), mind (intelligent affection), strength (all our energies, intensity in our affection).
Numero Dos: And love your neighbor as yourself, with the sincerity we have for ourselves and with the same readiness to do and suffer for them as we would reasonably want them to do for us. (Insights from Commentary on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, borrowed from the library across the street. I love libraries.)

Jesus said there were no other commandments greater in importance than these. All of scripture is encapsulated in these two commands. All God’s will for us in contained therein. The doing of these, the working out of these two commands from the lips of God demands our supreme efforts, on a daily basis. It will transform our lives, and our world.

God help us.

Which he has done by sending his spirit into our hearts. And what we term the spiritual disciplines are designed to help us accomplish this, the doing of God’s two greatest commands.

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We all know we’ve been asleep with the disciples in the Garden, when we’ve been told to “watch and pray” (so we won’t fall into temptation).

If the rebuke fits, wear it…and weep (in contrition, repentance, changing direction). Then get up, slap ourselves a couple times and get busy doing what needs to be done so we don’t fall asleep again. (I am talking in the awkward “group speak” of ‘we’ and ‘ourselves’ because I am including myself in those being spoken to.)

So…here I am, enjoying tremendously the time I have to dig into the Word of God, write notes on my insights, and set aside times for prayer (often in a park with a tremendous view because I love it so). I must determine and hold myself to it with all firmness that as I take on more responsibilities and fill my time with more activities, I will make and keep my priorities straight so I can keep the two Priorities most important to God.

I am teaching my granddaughter, Lourdes (5 years), to do ‘first things first’ when preparing for school (getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing her teeth). Then she will be ready to go and not have to rush at the last minute.

I need to remember to keep ‘first things first’, and build into my life those disciplines which will keep me on the path of daily living out ‘loving God supremely, and loving my neighbor as myself’. Then I will be ready to go when the time comes, whether it is to do something needful at any given moment, or meet my Lord face to face.

There will be no “rushing” at the last minute.

Let's keep praying for one another, holding each other up and holding each other accountable.

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!

Jacque