In our fast-paced, constantly connected world, it’s easy to let our priorities get out of order. We live in a culture where everything is screaming for our attention – from buzzing phones to endless notifications. But what happens when God gets pushed down our priority list? What happens when we’re too busy for the very relationship that should anchor everything else in our lives?

The Reality Check: If It’s Important, You Make Time

Here’s a hard truth: if something is important to you, you make time for it. If not, you make excuses. We all have the same 168 hours in a week. After subtracting sleep, we’re left with about 119 hours to spend. The question is: what are we choosing to give those precious hours to?

Think of it like a budget. If you made $20 an hour, you’d have $2,380 worth of time to “spend” each week. Would you spend $80 on four hours of TV? Would you invest $60 on three hours at the park with your kids? When we view our time this way, it becomes clear what we truly value.

What Happens When Our Priorities Get Out of Order?

The Old Testament prophet Haggai spoke to people who had their priorities completely backwards. In Haggai 1:5-7, God tells His people: “Think carefully about your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but are never satisfied. You drink, but never have enough… The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with holes in it.”

Sound familiar? When we place other things in the position that God should occupy, we find ourselves constantly striving but never satisfied. We work harder but never get ahead. We accumulate more but never feel fulfilled.

The Danger of Making Good Things Ultimate Things

The problem isn’t usually that we’re prioritizing obviously bad things. Often, we take good things – family, career, hobbies, even ministry – and elevate them to a place of ultimate importance. When we do this, these good things become idols.

Here’s a simple test: if you can’t give something up, it might be an idol. If you run to it in times of trouble instead of to God, it’s probably taken His place in your life.

How Do We Put God Back in His Rightful Place?

Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” When God has His proper place in our lives, everything else can fall into alignment. Here are four practical ways to make God your priority:

1. Make Reading, Worship, and Prayer a Priority

One of the first questions to ask when God feels distant is: “What does my worship life look like? When did I last read Scripture? How’s my prayer life?” If you’re not reading, praying, or worshiping, how can you expect to have a relationship with God?

If you only pray during crises, you’ve conditioned yourself that you don’t need God during normal times. If you come to church and it’s the first time you’re hearing the worship songs, that’s a sign that worship isn’t a priority in your daily life.

2. Make Community a Priority

We become like the people we surround ourselves with. Acts 4:32 describes the early church as being “of one heart and mind.” The people we spend time with influence who we become.

If you’re wondering why you’re making certain choices or developing certain attitudes, look at your community. Are you surrounding yourself with people who will draw you closer to God or pull you away from Him?

3. Make Giving a Priority

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). It’s easy to criticize something you’re not financially connected to. If you look at your finances and God’s kingdom isn’t represented there, then it’s not truly a priority.

Giving isn’t about earning God’s favor – it’s about aligning our hearts with His priorities. When we invest financially in God’s kingdom, our hearts follow.

4. Make Service a Priority

James 2:17 reminds us that “faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.” We don’t serve to earn salvation or God’s love – we serve because we love God. Service is the overflow of our relationship with Him.

When we put our hands to the same things Jesus cared about, we fall more deeply in love with Him. We start seeing people the way He sees them and caring about what He cares about.

The Time Budget Challenge

Sometimes prioritizing God requires sacrifice. Maybe it means waking up 45 minutes earlier for quiet time with God. Maybe it means leaving for work early so you can sit in your car and pray. Maybe it means locking yourself in the bathroom for a few minutes of Bible reading when you have small children.

The key is finding time in your 119 hours when you can give God your best attention, not your leftovers.

Life Application

This week, challenge yourself to give God your best 12 hours out of your 119. This doesn’t mean 12 consecutive hours, but rather prioritizing God throughout your week in a way that adds up to your best 12 hours of time, energy, and attention.

This might look different for everyone. For some, it’s morning quiet time. For others, it’s evening reflection. The key is giving God your best, not what’s left over after everything else.

Ask yourself these questions:

• When I look at how I spend my 119 hours each week, what does it reveal about my true priorities
• What would need to change in my schedule to give God my best time rather than my leftovers
• Which of the four areas (reading/worship/prayer, community, giving, service) needs the most attention in my life right now?
• What “good thing” in my life might have become an ultimate thing that’s competing with God for first place?

Remember, you will never be loved more or less by God based on your performance. But when you prioritize Him, you’ll find that everything else in your life begins to fall into its proper place. God holds all things together, and when we seek Him first, He can sustain and order the rest of our lives in ways we never could on our own.