Hart To Heart Ministries

Mike, Denise, & Michelle Hartmann-Echterling

The List

24/07/08 07:23 Faithdevotional
The List

By Denise Hartmann-Echterling

In Exodus 20, God spoke these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves. "You must not have any other gods except me. "You must not make for yourselves an idol that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. You must not worship or serve any idol, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. If you hate me, I will punish your children, and even your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

Now you may say, "thanks for the first grade Sunday school lesson, Denise. Thanks for wasting my time. " Now, please hang in here with me to the end of this teaching. Sometimes we read something so many times, we hear about something so much, that it loses its meaning.

Like all of you, I am a very busy person. I make lists. I have "to do" lists, "been done" lists, and "ain't gonna do list," I have them all. I love checking things off the lists. I love doing and doing and doing, and adding to the list. It's a crazy cycle. Do you do it? Accomplish more, so you can just do more accomplishing? I drive myself crazy accomplishing stuff. But, you know what I finally realized? The more I put on my list, the further I pushed God to the bottom.

We get up in the morning, yell at the family to get up, rush to shower and eat, rush to work, then at work, we rush even faster. Soon, we are going so fast, God is way down the list, and sometimes God is not even on the list. What does God think about all this? You know what I think? I think He grieves. I think I grieve God when I go so fast and then shove Him down the list.

So, you say, "ok.. fine.. nice devotional. Is there a point?" Glad you asked. You may expect me to say "ok.. folks. Let's all make a list. God at top, then family, church, work, etc." But you know what? I don't think God likes that list. You know what I think God wants our list to look like? I don't think God wants to be #1 on a list of 10; He wants to be #1 on a list of 1. All else should flow from that list.

My list became too busy this past year and I found myself desiring only God being #1 on my list of 1. So I began saying the following prayer and seeing my priorities and my walk with God change. Would you join me by saying this prayer and seeing your list change?

Dear Father, help me get rid of the idols in my life, help me place You at the top of a list of one. Forgive me for pushing You down to the bottom and sometimes even off my list. Lord, let me enjoy You and make You a part of every minute of my life. Father, thank You for your Son Jesus, Who died in place of me. In His Precious name Amen.


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Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By Mike and Denise Hartmann-Echterling. © Hart To Heart Ministries. Website: www.h2hm.org

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