Every now and then, I ask myself what’s most important in my life. Is it the size of my bank account? The health of my body? The state of my hobbies? And whenever I go through this mental exercise, despite going in with a totally open mind, the answer never changes. The most important things in my life are actually not things at all, but people. Here’s my priority list, in order: God, my wife, my family, friends, and the other people I walk beside in life. These people, to me, are more valuable than anything else. To use one of my favourite words, they are indispensable.
I have a feeling that God shares a similar sentiment about people. In the part of Jesus’ life that we know most about, the last few years, we see a person who did extreme things for people. Most of these people He didn’t even know, and yet His passion for them drove Him to travel great distances, starve himself, give up any natural human aspirations and plans, and even sacrifice His own life.
And then I think of Jesus’ closest friends- his ever-faithful, death-defying, selfless disciples. Except they weren’t, and Jesus probably knew this when He chose them to be in His close circle of friends. Jesus’ closest friends were a bunch of proud, self-promoting, disloyal, unwise, selfish, broken people. But He loved them to bits anyway!
Now here’s where the rubber hits the road. When I think about myself, I am also a proud, self-promoting, disloyal, unwise, selfish, broken person. And so are you. The crazy thing is that God loves you to bits anyway. Atop God’s mental list of all the amazing things He could prioritise in His life, is your name, and mine.
What’s at the top of your list lately? What is utterly indispensable for you?
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