Earlier this summer and fall there were a couple of nights when the northern lights were visible in Iowa. Many of you had pictures of the incredible display that is usually only visible much further north and during the winter months, and I loved seeing your pictures because I missed it. I didn’t realize it was happening, but even if I had, I probably would have chosen to miss it. I’m more than a little particular about getting enough sleep, and annoyingly, they are only visible at night. All of this to say, even if I’d known, I most likely wouldn’t have made it a priority.
The reality is, we don’t have time for all the things we might want to be a priority. And every time we say yes to something, we say no to the other possibilities for that moment in time. Some folks are so paralyzed by this that they never commit to anything in case something better comes along. But what Jesus is talking about in the passage today is the benefit of committing to the one thing that really matters.
He tells the disciples they are blessed to see the things they get to see, because what they’ve seen is the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth through Jesus. People have been healed, lives have been restored, nature has been subdued and evil is on the run.
To see these things happen is a longing that exists within all of us. We were created for eternity and to be undamaged by sin, and our souls long for this reality.
The disciples got to see it firsthand. Many of you have seen what God can do firsthand, and I, too, have been blessed to experience and see it in others. It never, ever gets old. And every time we see it, we get a glimpse of what heaven will be, when all the things that break our hearts are gone forever.
My encouragement for you today is to consider what it means to make Jesus the priority above all the other potential priorities. What might you get to see? What isn’t serving you and is getting in the way of making Jesus the one thing? What can God do through you when you let Jesus be Lord of your life?
Prayer
I’m sharing a prayer with you today that someone else shared with me, and it speaks to the competing priorities in our lives – especially when those priorities come from within us. I have it printed in my office and pray it daily. I pray it blesses you as it has me.
Lord, if anything is blocking your light in my life, remove it. If I’m sheltering any of your enemies – hate, greed, anger or envy – take a wrecking ball to the house I’ve made for them. If my compulsions drive me to things and places that kill my soul, then in your kindness, kill those compulsions and resurrect them as pure desires. I am crucified with Christ. I am raised with Christ. Help my heart and body know it is so. Amen.