Who's First?

I'm reading a book that I hope to finish and review next week. But, a thought came to me as I was reading the book that I wanted to go ahead and share.

The book is entitled My Son, John by Kathi Macias. To know more than that, you'll have to watch for my book review! Or you could read the book yourself, which I actually do recommend. Yeah, I know - not very nice. But that's not the point of this post.

There was a thought presented early in the book - an idea that maybe we have it a little mixed up as parents. Many Christian families are seeking to come back to a family-oriented lifestyle in our day to day existence. But, in doing so, who are we focusing on? You see, the point of such an orientation is to make sure that we are focused as a family on following the Lord. But often we get so focused on making sure that our family is together that we put the kids or the family unity first and the Lord falls somewhere lower on the list.

As I processed through this thought, I realized that I've been guilty of it. I say that maintaining a God-honoring household is my number one priority at this phase in my life, but sometimes I hide behind my kids as an excuse not to do certain things. Maybe I should instead bring them along to serve right beside me! Isn't that what I really want? A family that truly serves God as a whole? How can I teach my kids to join us in service if I use them as an excuse to keep from serving? I know that there are still going to be things that I'm not able to do, but there are a lot of things that I can do with them by my side.

I think I'm doing a lot of rambling today. But, essentially, my point is that no matter what our specific approaches to life might be, our ultimate focus must be on Christ. If it isn't, then at some point, everything else will fall apart.