“Remember, you’ve only got so much time in a day.”

A thought by James MacDonald (2010-05-03) from his book, 10 Choices: A Proven Plan to Change Your Life Forever (Kindle Location 2992). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Now this thought needs to be a push to prioritize your life.  And James says that after God, family must be the first priority that all others must go through.

He emphasizes, “You just don’t have room at the top of your priority list for things that don’t immediately concern you and your family. Causes are fine, but your greatest efforts need to be serving the people under your own roof or who bear your name. You don’t have the capacity to be involved in every good cause and driven by every worthy mission. If you try, you’re just going to wear out your family! Priority choices come right after capacity choices because priorities help us assign our limited capacities to whom and what is best served.”

He goes on, “What’s more, you can’t be everyone’s savior. You can’t solve everyone else’s problems without neglecting your own. It’s a perk to your ego to try, but it only hurts your family. Stick to the challenges at your own address. If the things on your mind just now do not carry the ball down your own family field or advance any important priorities in your family life, you’re just spinning your wheels. Bluntly said, mind your own business. Stay on your own program, and take care of the things that matter most.”

He then says, “But here’s the third part of making your family your treasure: it’s not just what you stay out of, it’s what you’re really in to. You’ve got to be really into your family. Be passionate about them. Study them as the most fascinating people you know. Show them you are becoming an expert in all things concerning them. Make your time with them the subject of your greatest prayers and planning. Make your understanding of them your highest ambition and your greatest goal. When you do that, you will begin to experience your greatest joys being with your treasured family.”

He earlier said, “Your heart is with your treasure. Your treasure is with your heart. What you love most becomes treasure to you. What you treasure most becomes what you love. Those two are inseparable.”  I treasure God first then my family.

So is God and your family your treasure?