Are My Priorities Right?

I read a story this week and it made me wonder about my personal priorities and are they right.  The story is about a reporter covering a coal-mine disaster who wrote a story that began: “God looked at the grief today in this little West Virginia mining town, and He wept.” The city editor emailed back: “Forget the mine cave-in. Interview God.”  You know getting to know God in a personal way should be our greatest priority in life. If we plan on spending eternity with Him then it seems like a good idea to get acquainted with Him now. And it may be later than we think.  So I decided to make that my New Years Resolution.  I vowed to spend more time in the Word and with Him.  One of my favorite musicians is Quincy Jones.  This man is phenomenal.  He played the French Horn by age 12. By the time he was 15 he was playing professionally with some of the top jazz musicians of the day. He became the first black musician to break the Hollywood color barrier as a composer. He’s best known as the composer of the score for The Color Purple.  It sounds like he had it all....but he didn't....life  hasn’t come easy for this amazing musician.  Griefus, Quincy Jones has been married three times, survived two brain surgeries, and endured a complete emotional breakdown. Many years ago he faced surgery for an aneurysm that threatened to kill him. The doctors told him that his chances of recovery were 100 to 1. Miraculously, he survived.  A reporter asked Jones, "What did you start doing differently after your operation?" I love Jones reply....he simply said, "The first thing I started doing was hugging a lot. When you get to be 50, you start dealing with the countdown, and you can deal with it in a positive or a negative way. I [see] this little life to be this great gift. You know that old cliché about your life passing in front of you? Well, it really does."  I don’t know if Quincy Jones is a Christian or not, but hugging others isn’t a bad priority, that is, with the right motive. And certainly realizing how quickly life goes by is a good priority to have. We are, in a sense, here today and gone tomorrow. WE MUST HAVE OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT.  So let me ask you.....what are your priorities in life? And what are your priorities for any given day? What’s your first order of business besides getting out of bed and cleaning up your body? Coffee? Breakfast? Read the paper? TV news? Or pray and read scripture or a devotional book? I have an hour drive from Rock Mills to Alex City...and that is my time to spend with the Lord...and I love it.  It is so refreshing to plot out my day with him on the trip to Alex City and it is regenerating to unload my day with him on the trip back.  Today is January 3rd and I want to challenge you all to review your own priorities and decide just what is important in your life...and put it at the top of the list.  Happy Monday!