February 17, 2004: The List
   

"Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves. You must not have any other gods except me. You must not make for yourselves an idol that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. You must not worship or serve any idol, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. If you hate me, I will punish your children, and even your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But I show kindness to thousands who love me and obey my commands. You must not use the name of the LORD your God thoughtlessly; the LORD will punish anyone who misuses his name." Exodus 20 (The New Century Version)

 
    Like all of you I am a very busy person. I make lists. I have "to do" lists, "been done" lists, "ain't gonna do" lists. I have them all. I love checking things off the lists. I love doing and doing and doing, adding to, adding to, and adding to the list. It's a crazy cycle. Do you do it? Accomplish more, so you can just do more accomplishing? Sheesh... I drive myself crazy accomplishing stuff. But you know what I finally realized? The more I put on my list, the further I pushed God to the bottom.

    We get up in the morning, yell at kids to get up, rush to shower and eat, rush to get kids to school, rush to work, then at work, we rush even faster. Pretty soon, we are going so fast, that God is way down the list, and sometimes God is not even on the list. What does God think about all this? You know what I think? I think He grieves. I think I grieve God when I go so fast. I know I grieve God when I shove Him down the list.

    So, you say, "Ok... fine... nice devotional, David. Is there a point?" Glad you asked. You may expect me to say "Ok folks, let's all make a list. God at top, then family, church, work, etc." But you know what? I don't think God likes that list. You know what I think God wants our list to look like? I don't think God wants to be #1 on a list of 10; He wants to be #1 on a list of 1. And all else should flow from that list.

Dear Father, help me get rid of the idols in my life, and help me place You at the top of a list of one. Forgive us for pushing You down to the bottom and sometimes even off our list. Lord, slow us down, and help us to enjoy You and make You a part of every minute of our lives. Father, thank You for your Son Jesus, Who died in place of us. In His Precious name, Amen.

David Massey

Questions or comments? Email david@e-devotionals.org.

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