First Things First

When we were little, my Dad would read to us and his favorite book was Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hatches an Egg".  We heard that story so often that mt sisters and I could recite long passages from memory.  If you have never read it, it is a story of an elephant that sits in a tree and hatches an egg.  Early on in the story, Horton is preparing to climb up into the tree and the line in the story goes, "The first thing to do muttered Horton lets see.  The first thing to do is to prop up this tree." Horton need to make the tree stronger to support his weight.  Without a strong foundation, it would never work.

First things first.  What is the priority?  What one thing will affect the success of everything else?  It is remarkably easy to lose track of this.  John Lennon famously said that "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." We can get so caught up in the details of life that we lose sight of the priorities and what I do ends up being counter productive.  

This idea is never more true than it is with our relationship with God.  Christianity ultimately isn't about a religion, it's about a relationship.  Relationships take time and attention.  But talk about the one underlying foundation that will affect everything else.  

At the end of Horton Hatched the Egg, the egg hatches and what comes out is part elephant and part bird.  The ideal is that Horton's love and faithfulness is reflected.  The same is true for us in our relationship with God.  As we develop our relationship, His characteristics will be reflected in us.