Putting First Things, First
I’ve been talking a lot lately about physical health and the importance of a daily regimen and healthy-wellness checkups all to keep us in tip-top shape. But, I’d be remiss if I didn’t put first things first. Let’s talk about the Spirit and it’s important in keeping our total wellness in balance.¹
Many people think what’s written in the Bible has mostly to do with getting people into heaven — getting right with God, saving their eternal souls. It does have to do with that, of course, but not mostly. It is equally concerned with living on this earth — living well, living in robust sanity.
In his introduction to the Book of Proverbs, Dr. Eugene Peterson reminds us, that in our Scriptures, heaven is not the primary concern, to which earth is a tagalong afterthought. “On earth as it is in heaven” is Jesus’ prayer.
“Wisdom” is the biblical term for this on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven everyday living. Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves. It has virtually nothing to do with information as such, with knowledge as such. A college degree is no certification of wisdom — nor is it primarily concerned with keeping us out of moral mud puddles, although it does have a profound moral effect upon us.
Wisdom has to do with becoming skillful in honoring our parents and raising our children, handling our money and conducting our sexual lives, going to work and exercising leadership, using words well and treating friends kindly, eating and drinking healthily, cultivating emotions within ourselves and attitudes toward others that make for peace.²
Dr. Peterson takes this line of thinking on wisdom one step further, as he defines, the daily act of worship, in Romans the chapter 12:
“So, here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”³
Threaded through all these items is the insistence that the way we think of and respond to God is the most practical thing we do. In matters of everyday practicality, nothing, absolutely nothing, takes precedence over God.
You might think of this as — putting first things first. When we do this, when we put the Spirit first, everything else, the other daily priorities in our lives, will fall into the right place.
Remember, at Conizo, we want you to live well through every season of life. That’s why we continue to provide the best in information, experiences & resources, all designed to help you live that well-lived life. Be sure to stop by our www.Conizo.com page to check us out!
Notes
Conizo Living & Wellness, www.Conizo.com
Introduction to Proverbs, The Message, The Bible in Contemporary Language, Numbered Edition, copy write 2005.
Romans 12:12, The Message, The Bible in Contemporary Language, Numbered Edition, copy write 2005.