|
Walking into Costco with four things on your list and sticking to those four things as you walk out is called discipline. However, I didn’t have it in me on this particular day, to stick to the list. Instead, my focus shifted as I weaved into forbidden territory.
I didn’t stick to the plan and found myself having cart envy. Cart envy is looking into other people’s carts and thinking I should have in my cart what they have in theirs. As I wandered around, I found myself stocking up on socks and soup and spaghetti sauce, a three-pack of shaving cream, a new shower rug, and scented candles I justified as “gifts.” I also put in the cart an oversized bag of salted lime tortilla chips because the cart in front of me had some so I thought, why not give them a try! Cart envy.
After about an hour, I left with a cart FULL, but somehow managed to forget the laundry detergent and the toilet paper. Typical. I was full of everything except the things I really needed. So much of life is like my shopping cart at Costco. It’s full of good things, but in search of the good, I forget the quest of the best. I allow cart envy to steer me down ‘paths of righteousness’ when I know full well, only God can do that.
This week as you prepare your to-do lists and your pick-up lists, put Jesus at the top of the list. It sounds like a simple exercise, but often we forget the most basic and essential necessity. It’s why we call it discipline. Learning to put God first in all things takes concentrated focus and effort. As a follower of Jesus, you are invited to fill your heart full of Jesus first, and in doing so, you will never not have what you need.
Repeat, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake.” – Psalm 23
|
