The start of a new school year brings back personal memories of my own starts to a new semester. I remember being excited when I finally received my class schedule for a new school year. If you were anything like me, you also may have been excited to see which classes you were taking, which teachers you had, and most importantly which of my friends I would be in class with. Now of course for the most part your school schedule was made for you. You didn't decide when you go to school or when each class starts or stops. You didn’t decide how long you get for lunch or when you get to go home. However today, whether you are currently a student or not, you do get some freedom in deciding how you spend your time outside of the things that are scheduled for you. And what you do with that time (aka “your schedule”) reveals your priorities. Now, while the Bible doesn't talk much about schedules in the way that we think about them today, it does have something to say about priorities and our priorities usually determine our schedule.

 In the passage today’s verse comes from, Jesus says a lot of great things, but He gets specific regarding our understanding of the things we decide are important. Those things aren’t decided as important by what we say but rather what we do, specifically, where our hearts are. So, we as people can talk all day long about what is important to us but if we are not showing that those things are important, it’d be hard to convince others that we treasure said things. I can't say that I love volleyball. Then have someone look at my schedule to see that I don't spend very much time making volleyball a priority. Now with that in mind, if we looked at our schedules, would others be able to tell that we love Jesus?? Is it obvious that we treasure and value Him for what He has done for us by how much time and where we prioritize the time, we spend with Him?

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. If we fill our schedule with things that are not important first, we won't have time for things that should be important. If we say we love Jesus, He should get the most significant chunks of our schedule. And if we place God in the center of everything we do, He will help us set priorities in our lives.

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