True Identity Ministries Blog

Acts 20:24
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.”

I love these words from the Apostle Paul. When I read this Bible verse a few years ago, I had to post it all over my house. Paul’s primary ambition was to faithfully finish the task that God had given him to do. I want to do the same. I want to be accomplishing the daily things that He has for me. Paul felt no responsibility to complete the task Christ had given to Peter, or Barnabas, or Timothy. He believed and taught that God has specific plans for each believer. He expressed this in Ephesians 2:10, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

God has a task for each one of us-one he planned a long time ago. There is just this little problem that often gets in the way of us accomplishing the tasks. The problem is lack of priorities. You see, without priorities in place, we will NOT complete the task that the Lord has for each of us. While we are all too familiar with the word priorities and may even know that they are very important to have in order, it is easy to have them fall out of the right order. One common reason our priorities get all jumbled up, is distractions.

Nothing is more discouraging than getting pulled away from our priorities because of distractions. Isn’t it amazing how distracted we can become?

1 Peter 5:8 says,“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

This verse shows us how active satan is in our world. His very name means, “One who separates.” His chief purpose is to separate us from God however he can. He wants us to chase after other things-even good things-so we miss God’s best. He wants to keep us busy. Have you heard the quote, “If satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy!” Busyness is a major distraction. Isn’t this so true? How many of you have hustled and bustled around all day, and at the end of the day, your thinking to yourself, “what did I do all day?”

Let’s take a quick look at the story of Mary and Martha.

Luke 10:38-42, “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Now ladies, let’s put ourselves in this story. I’ve been there before, preparing to have guest over; making a meal, cleaning like a mad-woman, and by the time my guests arrive, I’m ready to go sit in a warm bath with a cup of tea. I miss out on the special time that God had opened up for us, just the same way Martha missed out with Jesus. Oh, it’s easy to read her story and think, “yea, right, if that was me, I wouldn’t have missed out sitting with Jesus.” But, sadly we all can probably relate to her more than we would like to admit. We say that God is our first priority, yet many times all of the distractions/preparations pull us away from having some quiet time with him.

As we sit at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to help us realign our priorities, he whispers the things he wants us to focus on that day. Maybe it’s sending an encouraging card to someone, visiting the elderly in the nursing home, investing into your marriage, having some fun with our kids, taking care of yourself by getting some exercise. Whatever it is, He will help us. When our priorities are where they need to be and we are accomplishing the task God gives us, we will have full access to the abundant life that He intended us to have. Our lives will be a sweet aroma to others.

Blessings to you today, as we sit at the feet of Jesus.