Another week has come and gone, and many of us probably have the coulda-shoulda-woulda thoughts and feelings crowding in on our minds. Maybe you are thinking of all the things you didn’t get to this week because you were so busy, or the things you procrastinated on doing because you just didn’t have the drive to get them taken care of. Personally, I just flung my yard rake out of my hand and ran inside to write this email because I procrastinated writing it until now. Ha. As my parents and many mentors have told me on numerous occasions, “It’s all about putting your priorities first.”

Last night I had a chance to listen to an older gentleman speak to a group of youth about making sure the “important things in life” get taken care of first (i.e. things pertaining to their spiritual life, family life, future life) and then indulging on non-essential things later. He used a familiar object lesson to demonstrate this concept using a jar, some walnuts, and some coffee beans. The jar represented our life, the walnuts represented important things in life, and the coffee beans represented the non-essential things in life. If you started filling the jar with the coffee beans first and then added the walnuts, everything wouldn’t fit. But, if you started filling the jar with the walnuts and then added the coffee bean last, all the contents would fit in the jar without any issues. Sorcery you say? Nope, just a little common sense.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s true. If we learn to take care of the important things in our life first, then everything else will fall into its proper place. How many of us keep telling ourselves that we will start reading our Bibles more, start praying more, or share the gospel more with people? Or maybe it’s spending more time with family instead of work, saving money instead of spending, or cleaning the house instead of bumming on the couch so much. Whatever it is, there is never a better time to change the way you do things than right now.

One of the ways that we can prioritize in our spiritual lives is by remembering to keep a Sabbath. Jesus said in Mark 2:27, “The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath.” God in all his infinite wisdom knew just how much we as people were going to need to take a break sometimes. He set the example for us by resting after he finished creating the world (Genesis 2:2). In 21st century America, that can be easier said than done sometimes. But this is where prioritizing comes in. What is more important for your spiritual well being? What is more important for your physical well being? What is more important for your family’s well being? Answer these questions and more like them, and you will find out every time (if you are honest with yourself) that taking time for the Sabbath is always what is best. Observing the Sabbath can sometimes be the biggest no-brainer, but then there are other times when the pressures of life can be so demanding that it just doesn’t seem responsible or logical to take the day off. Take a deep breath at those times and do what is most important – honoring God and indulging in the rest that God ordained from the beginning of our world, the Sabbath.

God’s blessings on you all.