Oh how I neglect, how I put-off, how I procrastinate for another day….and another…and another.  Forgive me, I am no professional blogger.   I can’t keep up.   The desires of my heart and my to-do list keep my head spinning out of reality most days.  But God reined me back into reality today; hit me with something I desperately needed to be reminded of.  What is important?

Doing God’s will…being a godly wife and mom…working diligently in my mission field (my kids)…reading God’s word and actually applying it…being healthy…being a good steward of finances and time…being a carrier of the light of Jesus…being accountable.

HMMMM….

And why am I not whole-heartedly doing any of those?  Ok, yes, I am hard on myself, a naturally critical person (especially directed at myself).  But still, if that is what I value most in my life, my heart forgot to send the memo to any other part of my body and has yet to truly enforce the issues.

In BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) this year we are studying the book of Matthew (yes, BSF is way cool, check it out if you have never tried it).  And this past week we studied John the Baptist and how he boldly prepared the way for Jesus.  **CONVICTING PART*** How am I preparing the way for Jesus?  Am I giving Him the best, or just good, or even mediocre?  Do I put-off what He puts on my heart to do, no matter how unimportant it might seem?

If someone really important, someone I held in high regard were coming over to visit me, wouldn’t I want everything to be looking ‘the best’?  The best food, the cleanest house, the most obedient children, I would work hard for everything to be as close to perfection as possible.  Yet, is that what I am doing every day in preparation to see Jesus?  Am I diligently preparing my children to see Jesus, or am I more concerned with how they make me look as a mom, their academic success or whether or not they are good athletes?  Do I care more about the way people see me on the outside than the way Jesus knows me on the inside?

Do I give Jesus my best?  Because I hold no one in higher regard than Him, yet He lives within my unclean heart, and sees my rotten attitude, and knows my stinky sins over and over again.  And I continue on in mediocrity, justifying my life as it is, because I am ‘busy’, or I am tired, or I have a lot of kids, or if I had this or that I would be different.

So…going back to what is important in my life, which is where my best needs to start…every day…not neglected…not put-off for another day or another season.   It’s not perfection; it’s giving my best, by focusing on the prize of Heaven, doing my part to make the outward path a little smoother, and the inward dwelling of my heart a little cleaner.

Dearest Jesus-

Thank You for loving me in spite of my ugliness.  You deserve only the best from me Lord.  Help me to continually strive on with joy in my heart.  I thank You for those You have entrusted to me on this path of life, especially my children.  I pray I can speak boldly of You with love.  If there is anything good in me Lord, it is You.  Thank You for the work You do in me.

A