In a world of “me”, and “I”, where does God stand? Oftentimes, we think solely about ourselves and our daily to-do list, where we want to go, what we want to do. So, where does that leave God? An afterthought? Not thought of at all. We fill our days up to the last minute with the things we want to do or things we “need” to do. But most of what we fill our days with are things that are not eternal and hold no true significance in the span of a lifetime. These things we do daily to fill our time, we cannot take them to heaven with us. They will be left behind when we are called away by God. Why then do we feel the need to fill every second of our days with the hustle and bustle of life? Don’t get me wrong, We must live life, grocery shop, raise our children, have hobbies, cook dinners, clean the house, work, but what I ask is are these things keeping you from truly living out your life according to God’s will for you? Are you pushing prayer time back day after day, saying “I’ll pray later, or tonight before bed I’ll whisper my prayers before I fall asleep?” God wants more than that from us. He wants us to prioritize Him first into our days. He wants us to wake up with Him on our hearts and minds. He wants for us to live out our days with love, kindness, thanksgiving, joy, mercy and a giving spirit for everyone we come into contact with. He wants us to live with intent.
If God asked you to change your day around, to prioritize Him into it more, would you? If God asked you to go, would you? If God asked you to stay, would you? If he said, “trust me,” would you? When He says, “talk with me, my child,” do you? When he asks you to praise him, do you? When he says, “follow my path instead of your own,” do you? When he asks you to sing to him, do you? God gave us the gift of free will, but he loves us so much that he wants us to put him first above all else. Life happens. It gets crazy, busy, too much for us sometimes, but God simply wants us to take him with us in our everyday.
Ruth lost her husband. She could have stayed in her homeland, lived out her life with her family, found another husband for herself, she could have been angry with God for the loss of her husband. But, she didn’t. She wasn’t angry. She didn’t stay. She left everything; all her life had become to travel to a new place with her mother-in-law. In Ruth 1:16-17, Ruth says “…whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” Rather than choosing to go on her own path, following her own will, she chose to give up everything to follow Naomi, her mother-in-law. God stayed with them. She had God with her and He blessed her because of the decisions she made. Could we give up everything for God’s will above our own? When we surrender everything to God, he blesses us. He blesses every prayer, every time we choose him over ourselves, He sees it and He blesses us for it. Sacrifice is not something that will ever come easy. We are made of flesh and blood, therefore, choosing to give up something we feel we need, will always be a struggle. But in the end, we are blessed because of it. God sacrificed everything in order for us to be able to live a life of forgiveness and freedom. He gave of himself that we may live. He didn’t have to do that. But he did because he loves us. Do not be afraid to give up something, to sacrifice something that will in the end make your life a more blessed one. Push on, continue forward. God will not leave you. Choose his will today. Choose to follow him. Choose to go where he leads. Choose to stay where he is. Be a Ruth. Because of Ruth’s obedience to God and she followed after his will, God’s blessings carried on to her children and grandchildren and on and on for many generations. Even David who became a king. God did bless her and keep her because of her sacrifice. God will do the same for us. If our children see our sacrifice and decisions to honor God first above all else, then they will do the same, and so will their children and on and on it will go. God’s blessings are never ending. Choose today to be like Ruth. Let us give God our best. Let us not forget what is important in our day-to-day life.
He gives us Roots so we can Fly. Roots and wings.
