“…one thing I do…, I press toward the goal…” Philippians 3:13-14
100 years ago, the average family in the western world had several children more than they do now. They had no modern-day appliances and yet people’s lives tended to be far less stressed, rushed, and packed with “to-do-lists.” These days we live in all-mod-cons environments, with cars, washing machines, dishwashers, microwaves – and instant everything, from mashed potato to ready-made meals. But something has happened in our busy, packed lifestyles. Despite boasting we can multi-task and do ten things at a time without dropping the ball, as a society we have never been so stressed, distressed, depressed and suffering from all manner of mental health issues. ‘What on earth are we doing to ourselves?’ Or, as we could, perhaps more accurately ask, ‘What on earth are we doing for Heaven’s sake?” Consider this. What is producing the high level of pressure in your life if, indeed, you are like the vast majority of people who admit to living constantly on a knife-edge, coping with stress and a seen or unseen taskmaster demanding more and more from you?
Let us consider two closely related questions we should all ask ourselves periodically. 1. Who is setting the ‘targets’ you subconsciously or consciously or strive to achieve and, 2. Who is setting the priorities for your life? If you are not setting those targets and priorities yourself, but having them imposed upon you externally AND, if you are not setting them in accordance with the Word and will of Yehovah, you will forever be at the mercy of outside sources and their demands on you. There were always demands being made upon Yeshua’s time and yet He made time for the woman at the well, the boy with the fish and bread and also to get away to commune with His Heavenly Father. The apostle Paul travelled widely, wrote half the Brit Hadashah and constantly taught the people. And yet, both Yeshua and Paul knew how to set their own priorities for their own lives. Paul said, “this ONE thing I do,” which was to press into what Yehovah, not people, nor himself, required of Him. And you must do the same.