Since becoming a civilian, I’ve fallen in love with wearing strappy sandals and heels. It’s a glorious feeling after 25 years of combat boots to wear cute girlie shoes. Except that I feel so plump and inflexible, that I can’t really latch the straps very easily. I struggle to lean over to the buckle, only to discover I latched onto a hole that is too loose or too tight.
I keep on trying because those shoes are so cute! I feel like the reward is worth the sweaty wrestling match with my tummy rolls to latch the straps.
There are times I feel the same way about my walk with the Lord. I’m struggling to get the “strap” to fit just right. I become really involved with my prayer life, only to draw back and not pray. I become really involved with a Bible Study, only to withdraw to mindless tv shows. I volunteer for service projects, only to determine I want to be at home.
Like the cute strappy sandals, I keep struggling with my faith to make it fight just right, but often it’s too tight or too loose. That does not mean I’m struggling with my faith, but rather I’m struggling to make God my first priority. And that I’m struggling to make God a priority voluntarily, not out of a sense of obligation.
The Bible is very clear that God wants to be the first and only priority. This is evident in Exodus 20:2-3 (NIV), “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”
I want God to be the priority in my life, but how do we demonstrate that we truly love God and want His teaching placed first in our lives?
In 1 John 5:3, the apostle John offers this answer, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” We illustrate loving God when we strive to keep His commandments.
John offers further encouragement in 1 John 2:4-5 “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.”
Therefore, we keep trying to hold true to God’s commandments. We keep trying to show His love for others through our own obedience. We keep trying to make our walk with the Lord a good fit, rather than too loose or too tight.
What isn’t fitting just right in your life? How can you adjust to make God more of a priority?
~Emily
Iron Porch 