The story is told of bus passengers complaining because buses were on occasion passing the bus stops without stopping. The mass transit system released the following statement: "It is impossible for us to maintain our schedules if we are always having to stop and pick up passengers". What should have been priority number one had been replaced with schedule keeping. Most people have schedules, often very busy schedules.

Jesus said, "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). Sometimes we get lost. It's not on purpose, but we lose focus, and tend to drift, and before you know it we are way off course. There are so many things in this world, that are not necessarily inherently wrong, things which excite us, captivate us, and often consume us. Somehow, in all of this chasing down of dreams, goals, promotions and hobbies, God sort of gets pushed to second, third, fourth place, and pretty soon just out of the picture all together.

Jesus of course knows about our interest, concerns, and worries. He knows how easy it is for us to think we can find fulfillment in things. He knows how often, when overwhelmed with problems, we think we can fix them ourselves. God is waiting for us to come to our senses, like the prodigal son, and come home (Luke 15:17). God first. That's the only way it will work. Unless we make Him a priority and stick to it, it's so easy to let our commitment and service to God get pushed to the side.

A woman lived next to the railroad track and her bulldog always chased the train. She said, "Why does he chase the train? What's he going to do with it if he catches it?" Sometimes we are like bulldogs chasing trains. Endless pursuits with no real purpose in mind. Certainly God has provided many things in this life that are not evil, that we can enjoy with family and friends. Sometimes we just forget who has provided us with our family and friends, and the things we enjoy, and unfortunately He gets forgotten. We can get back on track. It's up to us to establish priority number one!

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