Priorities in life

Got the following reading from Daily Manna by Rev Isaac Ong today. I think I want to note it down to analyze how can I put God first, family then career finally. After all, I will still need to bring the money back to the table to feed the family, the children.

1 june

DEutErONOmy 1 PSaLm 88

Genesis 26:23–25

leSSon Isaac’s altar

VerSe 25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

God prospered Isaac in Gerar. His wealth resulted in the envy of the Philistines. Conflicts flared among the herdsmen. Isaac moved to Beersheba. The Lord appeared to him and said: “Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee. ” Isaac built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord. Isaac first built an altar to worship God. Next he pitched a tent so his family had a home. Then he dug a well to nourish his people and flocks. The altar, the tent and the well—in that order. How can we relate Isaac’s sequence of actions to our lives today? We too have priorities. The altar represents our priority to God. The tent represents our priority to our family. The well represents our priority to our career. Sometimes we put our family first, that is, we pitch the tent first. Sometimes we put our career first, that is, we dig the well first. We need money to put food on the table. We work hard so we can afford a comfortable life. When we put our family and career first, we may have achieved our material gains at a cost to our spiritual life—we can only give our leftover time and energy to build an altar. Our relationship with God may deteriorate. If we follow the example of Isaac and put God first in our lives, we will receive His blessings. An altar is a spiritual platform where we can experience God. The rest will come soon after.

Thought Let us put God first in whatever we do, always presenting our firstfruits to Him.