Who are your priorities?

Some new phones are coming out. At one point in time, I would have been excited. Not anymore. Unlike their predecessors, these new phones boast that they are faster, stronger and have better features than their previous designs and competitors. No matter their differences, they all have one common trait: they compete for my time and attention. Time and attention are two priceless commodities that are far too easily given away.

Life is short. James 4:14b, "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." You are here and then, like the smoke of a birthday candle, gone. The challenge to everyone in every era is how to invest your time and attention. There are three critical questions to determine how to invest these two valuable and limited commodities:

First, what is your purpose? God is the one who has created you. Therefore, he has a purpose for you. Your responsibility to your Creator is to reflect the purpose he has formed you for. Therefore, it is crucial to know your purpose and set your intentions for the day based on your purpose. Your intentions are an investment in living to the fullest this side of heaven.

Second, what are your roles? Each one of us has various roles we play. Roles that will change from season to season. My role as a dad has changed now that my children are no longer toddlers but teenagers and young adults. Know your roles. You need to define your roles to know how to employ your purpose.

Third, who are your priorities? Notice that the question does not ask what your priorities are but who. Your task list will never get done. Wash the dishes; there's more on the countertop. Check off all the phone calls; there's one more to return. You will always have more to do than you ever have time for. You need then to shift your focus from your tasks list -- those things you need to get done -- to who your priorities are. Make the people in your life a greater priority than the checklist of your life.

I will inevitably get a new phone. My mission now though is not to let a phone, or anything else, have me. I have been bought at a price far too valuable to let plastic, metal, and bright lights capture me.