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January 6

First Things First

While Christian discipleship has to do with living all of life to the glory of God and the well-being of others, there are some central impulses from which everything else flows. One of these key springs of life is the desire to do God’s will.

It is important to be attentive to and protect the various tributaries of a river system. But it is most important to safeguard the headwaters of such a system. The place where the river has its source is critical to its far-reaching, life-sustaining ability.

So it is in the Christian life. Everything we say and do has to do with seeking to live in the way of Christ. But the desire for this has a central

impulse and this is the grace and blessing God has poured into lives through the Holy Spirit.

What follows from this central source of inspiration is the desire to live in and for the purposes of God. To seek his kingdom ways. To do his will.

The founder of the Brethren of the Common Life, Geert de Groote, expressed this most clearly: “let me first seek the kingdom [of God] and then I shall so much the better be able to serve my neighbour.”6

Neither our church, nor our mission, nor our own needs are to be central to living the Christian life. God and God’s way and purposes are to be the source from which all good comes. And it is there that we can find our inspiration and our greatest happiness.

Reflection

The greatest challenge is not first of all to do much, but to do first things first. In the long journey of life we need to be sustained in our doing and service.