"Do not make anyone a priority if they consider you an option."
I saw this posted on Facebook today. It made my mind start wandering.
Priorities. Options.
We all have them. We prioritize things and people according to how they affect us. Every relationship is a choice, an option.
Spouses, children, friends, co-workers, strangers. We prioritize them. We put them in a position of importance to our lives. On what do we base their priority status? We base it on options.
What can this person do for me? How does this person affect me? Do I have time for this person? Does this person have time for me? How much am I willing to do or give or be for this person? Do I even like this person? There are a lot more criteria. Every relationship has its own set of options.
It doesn't matter what relationship is involved, we still prioritize people based on options or choices. If that person pleases us, we will do more for them. We will put him/her on top of the list. If that person displeases us or betrays us, we won't give him/her the time of day. Their status can change with a word or an action. Even in the most intimate and close relationship there is an option to end it, to break it, to change it's priority.
God had options. He looked at us from the viewpoint of eternity and saw everything. He saw us in our finest moments and in our deepest darkest sin. He heard us shouting in hatred and anger. He leaned close and heard us speak words of kindness and love. We are naked before Him, although we try to cover ourselves with the torn and tattered rags of our own priorities. There is no thought or word or action that we can hide from Him.
We are an option to Him.
What can we do for Him? How do we affect Him? Does He have time for us? Do we have time for Him? How much is He willing to do for us? Does He even LIKE us? He weighed all these options. We fell far short of weighing in on the side of being beneficial to Him.
In fact, we didn't even tilt the scale.
The weight of Jesus far outweighed any thing we could do or say or be that would make us a priority to God.
Yes, we are an option. He made us a priority.
Why? Because He loves.
" For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that WHO SO EVER believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3: 16)
He did it for Love. He did it for Who So Ever. He did it for me. For you. He did it just because.
He didn't have to do it. He chose. He chose you and He chose me. He put us in priority above His own likes and dislikes, His own comfort and His own life. He sealed it with His Promise. It can never be broken. Love never ending.
Where is He on our list of priorities?
