Oh the nuggets of wisdom by Ron Baker:) He used to say this all the time and while it seems like such a simple proverb, we make it quite complex. So, I ask you what is the main thing? Sometimes I think my main thing changes from season to season in my life: getting a good education, being a good daughter, making sure my students are learning math concepts, serving in my church, etc. While these ideals are good in and of themselves, they aren't the main thing...the main thing is loving on people.
At the beginning of the year, Tim (operations director) said an intersting fact about loving people. He said that Jesus based the entire fate of the world on his 12 disciples and their ability to love people after He left. You think about the 2 greatest commandments in Matthew where Christ either calls us to love Him or others; this is what He boiled down the entire Judean law to and the conclusion is love...must be important huh?
2 weeks ago, I was not keeping the main the main thing. I allowed other trivial details to get in my way of loving people. Things like pride, blaming others, keeping a record of wrongs, etc (not the prettiest sounding sins huh?) are what I was focusing on last week. Dad used to say that we should not "major on the minors" yet that is what I was doing. I was allowing the kid who was tapping his pencil to the beat of his own drum annoy me, or the staff member who hasn't responded to an email in a timely fashion frustrate me, or the fact that I live in this place where I still don't understand so much of the language and yet I have the desire to do so get the best of me and my attitude. Do you have these days or is it just me? I feel like we all have these days, yet we cover them up so no one really knows that we mess up all the time, we have a bad attitude towards people and need to ask forgiveness, or we forget to keep the main thing the main thing.
Ask Jesus to remind you what the main thing is and be real with Him throughout your day, even when you aren't keeping the main thing the main thing, He already knows that we will fail and is ready to get us back on track. Rest in this truth my friends.