Excuses And Priorities
A new year has begun, and I wonder:
How many of us have made New Year's
resolutions. A couple of resolutions of mine are to attend church regularly and to try and donate more of my time to worthwhile projects or actions
that will involve making this world a better place to live in. Last year, I found that I neglected and forgot what I had promised to do, and my resolutions were swept under the carpet, yet once again, by making excuses and putting my priorities in the wrong place.
We do our own thing during the week. We are busy cleaning our houses until they are spotless, and then, we yell at our children and husband when they walk in with dirty shoes. We reward ourselves with that piece of cake when we are frustrated, and we think to ourselves, You deserve it! Then we
drive to places where we can exercise in
order to lose a few pounds!
On Sunday, we go to church, sing a few songs, listen to a sermon, throw some of our money into the offering plate, and look at our watch, hoping that the service won't be too much longer, because we have things to do at home or people to visit. And we wonder why God is not blessing us! We think that the one hour a week at the church is sufficient for
God, and yet, we expect God to be there for us 24/7, don't we?!
We look into the newspapers to find out what our day has in store for us; we can actually have our daily horoscope downloaded into our incoming e-mail or cellphone. Why is it that we look to the stars when we can look to the One Who created them in the first place?
Psalm 86:5 – For You, Lord, are good, and
ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. (NKJV)
Lamentations 3:40 – Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. (NRSV) Today, let us return to our God and obey His voice, because He is merciful. Prayer: Merciful God, You must become very tired of hearing our broken promises and the vows that we can't seem to stick to. Help us to stay on the straight and narrow road and to remove anything that is not glorifying to Your holy name. We surrender ourselves to
do what You want us to do. Amen.

Let's make our world a better place