I once took a Life Coach course. The “coach” told us the story of how she was working with a senior business leader who was struggling to set priorities in his life. He was juggling his work, his relationship with his wife and children, an MBA he was doing, keeping fit, spending time with friends, and various past times he enjoyed.

After several exasperating sessions around priorities at the end of one session, the coach said she drew a box and put a question mark in it. She said, “come back next week with one thing in the box, the single most important thing to you in your life and once we know what’s in the box, we can work out all of your other priorities, but we can’t do that till you decide what is in the box”.

I don’t know what the businessman eventually put in the box. I have seen people put all sorts of things in that box, as their number one priority in life. A relationship, money, career, sex, pleasure, alcohol, possessions etc

So, at the start of 2022 let me ask you the same question.

What’s going to be in the box for you this year, what is your top priority?

A good way to work out what gets the top priority in your life is to look at the way you allocate your time. When you are tight for time, what never gets less time? What do you allocate most time to? (I know jobs demand a good chunk of our time, but your job is in the box for you if it always eats into what should be your free time that could be allocated to other things)

The reason I am asking you was that Jesus asks us essentially the same question. He says in Matthew 6:24

 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.”

Jesus is saying there, that you can only have one thing in the box. He goes on to say something that seems to have a special relevance for our culture, you can’t have God and money in the box. Its one or the other. In fact, you can’t have God and anything else in the box. God claims ultimate authority, the number one priority spot. Jesus is saying that God doesn’t do runner up in your allocation of top priority in your life.

Jesus says you have to choose who will be your master, who will be the top priority in your life because as that businessman discovered, you can’t organise all your other priorities in life till you decide what’s in the box for you.

OK, here it is. What’s in it for you