Rights and Priorities

Rights and Priorities…

We, as God’s children, are born with certain inalienable rights. Freedom of speech, religion and the right to choose our own direction. These rights are given to everyone by God and along with them come certain responsibilities and priorities.

Let’s not confuse these God given rights to those guaranteed by our Constitution, they are similar but different. Something our church leaders have yet to learn, but that is a different post.

As Christians, we use the Bible to guide us through life and believe it is God’s word. We are instructed to live our life to serve God by serving others. How soon we forget that serving others sometimes means putting others first and us last. God commanded us to love our neighbors as ourself and as He has loved us. He told us to care for the widows, the poor and the children. He told us how to care for the land so we would have bountiful crops over the years.

Somewhere along the line this message was lost. We as a society have turned our backs on the poor, the sick and the elderly. We have failed our neighbors, ourselves and God. We are openly hostile towards those who need help and have placed ourselves ahead of all others. We have closed ourselves off from those who don’t believe as we do, rather than opening our doors to them to lead them to God. Nowhere in the Bible did Jesus turn his back on anyone, in fact He was the first to include everyone.

Our priorities are messed up on so many fronts. When it is easier to snap at someone rather than smile, offer a hand and a kind word, our priorities are messed up. When it is easier to turn your back on a neighbor over a disagreement, our priorities are messed up. When we put our beliefs and thoughts above those of others, our priorities are messed up. When we fail to serve God by serving others, our priorities are really messed up.

So what can we do to straighten our priorities up? The first thing we can do is pray for forgiveness and guidance to help put our priorities in order. Then we can remember why we are here in the first place, to serve God by serving others.

Speaking for myself, I am here to serve, this is my station in life. I am always ready to lend a helping hand to my neighbors. I am here to lift people up when they fall and to offer them a kind word and a warm smile. I am not here to judge others on what they believe or how they live, rather I am here to share my love of God with them and offer them a path to God.

What about you, what are your priorities? Who comes first in your life?

Comments are always welcome.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed