Priorities

July 15, 2024

Here in the modern U.S., many of us live in an environment of traffic, vibrant colors, quick captions, marketing around every corner, phones chiming and ringing, people being accustomed to quick replies, same-day shipping, instant gratification, billboards lining every highway, short and loud content, “the next big thing” and yearly upgrades, and regular activities or appointments. There are so many things to fill our time with and spend our energy on, and if we’re not careful, it’s more than easy to become swept up in the current.

Just in my young life of 25 years, technology went from floppy disks and CDs, dial up, 2GB MP3 players, and curly-corded wall phones to AI answering Google searches, years worth of TV or movies on-demand, tablets in toddlers’ hands, social media handles being the first contact information you give… and everyone desiring to live in the rural countryside with farmhouse kitchens, picking berries and wildflowers.

Is it any wonder? We’re all so overstimulated! Even a simple trip to the store yields a headache of colors, signs, fonts, music, voices, smells, and every products’ aim being to grab your attention.

I grew up in small, midwestern towns, with parents who limited my screen time. I grew up riding bikes or playing capture-the-flag with my siblings, playing with LEGOs and K’nex and Barbies, reading books, kneading and sculpting craft clay or Play-Doh, or climbing onto round bales of hay (they were actually space ships for my siblings and I). After 4pm would we play video games until dinner at 6, with a possibility of watching an episode or two of something on the TV in the evening or on the weekends.

Which is all to say: I now understand and value quiet time, or playing, reading, and working with my hands. I can now recognize overstimulation and distraction, dopamine addiction vs. serotonin’s satisfaction. I can recognize that we live in a me-centered world, and I can recognize that Satan — the Adversary to our Abba, Yehovah — has been proactive in making sure we have every distraction from what truly matters.

Let’s look at the 10 Commandments for a moment:

‘I am Yehovah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, Yehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
‘You shall not take the name of Yehovah your God in vain, for Yehovah will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yehovah your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yehovah your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yehovah your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore Yehovah your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
‘Honor your father and your mother, as Yehovah your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which Yehovah your God is giving you.
‘You shall not murder.
‘You shall not commit adultery.
‘You shall not steal.
‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s' (Deuteronomy 5:6-21).

Commandments 1, 2, and 3 are about the reverence of Yehovah our God, and putting Him first in our lives. The fourth is about Shabbat and resting our minds and bodies, being mindful of Him, and remembering the work He did at Creation (Ex. 20:8-11). And the other six are about other people in how we are to interact with and treat them, starting with your parents and moving to the community and those around you. I personally believe this is a great place to start for prioritizing your life!

In my journal, I have a page titled, “Priorities” where I’ve listed out my life priorities in order. Not in all that much detail, but overarching themes: Yehovah, Family, Church family, Community+Friends, Work. You can see at a glance that my priorities focus on the people around me, followed by my livelihood, and everything else is either categorized in more detail underneath one of those categories, or not a priority to me. I’ve always had it written down in my mind, in a way, but I’ve found that to have it physically written down makes it a lot harder for me to deny one and make exceptions.

If work wants me to work on a sabbath, I must tell them “No,” even at the cost of my job, because Yehovah is my top priority. If one of my friends wants to hang out but I have a family event planned for that time, then I tell my friend “Another time,” because my family and maintaining good relationships with them is of higher priority. In no event does it mean I don’t love what I’m saying “no” to, but it helps me make decisions on how to spend my time. It works in other formats, too. If I have time, or money, or energy to spend on something, I can look to my priorities to help me decide how to use it.

Ultimately, having written down and in your notebook as a reminder works like a foundational tool to build up from. Now when I plan my schedule, I know the kinds of things I want to focus on, just from having my priorities cemented. I know that I want to eat dinner at my parents’ houses on Friday evenings to welcome in the shabbat, I want to to go church on shabbat to meet with my friends and church family while in the context of the Scriptures. I’d love to begin hosting tea party Bible studies with women in my congregation and community, and I know I want to be friendly to my neighbors and lend them a hand when they need it. But before I do any of that, I want to fill the cup I’ll pour out on others by meeting with Abba in the mornings, reading His Word and discussing my day with Him in prayer.

All other stimuli and events become secondary, falling away! I deleted my Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook accounts. I use Pinterest, Discord, and my browser more intentionally. The books I read suit one or more of my priorities. (And that doesn’t mean all of them are practical! I might read a fun novel to better connect with a friend.) I make a shopping list before I go to the store, and a menu even before that to base my list on. Every day off I make a list of things to do around the house, and my days at work are listed by either myself or my manager. I run my errands following work, before I get home, then I make dinner, then I spend the evening with the people in my life. And I’ve finally made the time to blog!

To be sure, I’m not at all perfect at focusing on my priorities in the day-to-day. I go through seasons of waxing and waning in my vigor and resolve, and habits are difficult to form. That’s the value of a notebook you use regularly. Make any changes to your life gradually, so as to be sure to successfully implement them without feeling overwhelmed. Start with one or two habits, get good at them, then add another. Slowly you’ll build a life around what’s important and meaningful to you!