To be free...

I was meditating this morning on how I can keep God as my first priority in every day life. I was thinking about what distractions cause me to lose my focus, and how to get back on track so that I can say yes to God. I was led again to reflect on Matthew 7:3-5:

3

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?

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How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye?

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You hypocrite, ³ remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye.

I am sometimes guilty of noting the splinters in the eyes of others, while not acknowledging those in my own eyes. Being self-righteous to this degree is a great distraction from truly prioritizing God in my life. But there are so many other things that can get in the way as well...

In experiencing life, we all encounter stumbling blocks. Sometimes we are able to stand again quickly and continue down the right path. At other times, we fall and lose our focus--we become blinded by the obstacles. We shift our perspective and focus on the obstacles so completely that we forget about God and the path He's laid. We get wrapped up in the joys of life, or stuck in the sorrows--all of these become specks in our eyes. We hold ourselves hostage, becoming wholly subject to these things.  We become slaves to our life experiences.

To combat this in myself, I must remember that God is in all things. I must remember that God has laid a path for me. I must remember that God is in control, and trust that He is executing His plan appropriately. That is sometimes very difficult to do; nevertheless we must remember that God IS here. In good times and bad times; with achievements and failures; during breakthroughs and trials, God is here. I do not have to rejoice alone, because God is there. I do not have to carry my burdens alone, because God is here. I do not have to go through life's ups and downs alone, because God is here. And in remembering this, I put God first; and I can be truly free.