Enough already!  Enough! Enough! Enough!  Why is it we are always self-focused?  It seems no matter where I go, everyone is looking out for themselves.  They are number one in their lives and don’t you forget it.  Do you get that way sometimes?  I do.  I have to whip myself back into shape.  I start thinking about what I have to do, what I don’t want to do, and what I want to do.  Did you notice how many times the word “I” was used in that sentence?

What is the cure?  We know what the answer is, but we seldom do it.  We have to get our eyes off of ourselves and put our eyes on the needs of others.  I can do one better than that.  If we are Christians, we must put our eyes and focus on Jesus.  He will set us straight, if we let Him.

As Christians we know the teachings of our Lord and Savior.  He was selfless as He went about doing good.  He saw the needs of the people around Him.  He touched the blind, healed the sick, and told the lame man to rise up and walk.  Jesus was weary and had no place to call home.  His desire was for His followers to be servants.  He wanted His followers to put others before themselves.  Why do we have so much trouble putting Jesus first?  Don’t we realize if we would put Jesus first, all of the other parts of our lives would fall into place?

We would know where to give our money and our time.  We would not worry or fret about everything.  We would not complain about our lot in life.  Have you ever just stopped and listened to people?  It is always too hot or too cold.  They are hungry or thirsty, but they probably have never been truly hungry a day in their lives.  Many people are either talking about someone or listening to others gossip.  They are in pain or don’t feel good.  Everything must be given to them or done for them, and they want it for free.

There are very few people who really know what it is to work hard.  I don’t understand.  Everywhere I go I see “Help Wanted” signs.  Many of these jobs are the type I held as a teenager.  Very few teens appear to have jobs these days.  What is the problem?  Do we feel we are too good to do certain jobs?

It appears many of us need attitude adjustments.  We must realize we are not the center of the universe.  We must allow ourselves to look at the plight of those in real need.  Take a walk with me at the nursing home.  As I walk down the hall, I see people who are lonely and hurting-really hurting. They possibly had a stroke or old age has caught up with them.  Their health is failing, and they have been forgotten.  Fortunately, I see some who have regular visitors. That always warms my heart.  I see others that never have a visitor and long to be touched.  The children’s ward at the hospital has patient after patient who are in serious condition.  My youngest brother was in the hospital when he was a child, and his roommate did not make it.  He was eight years old.

So many missionaries are risking it all to serve our Lord.  They are living and dying for the faith.  Their children are in danger, and we feel ours are going to miss out on something if they go to church.  Sometimes I think we treat our children as golden idols instead of gifts that God has given us.  They belong to Him, you know.

Why is it so hard to put Jesus first?  Is it really that hard?  We have become such a selfish society.  If we look back in America’s history, we would see how many men and women died so we might have the life we have today.  Americans weren’t always selfish and inconsiderate.

We must die to our own passions and desires.  We must tell God whatever He wants is what we want.  It is a choice we have to make.  You and I must let His Holy Spirit indwell us and live through us.  We must die to self.  Paul said in I Corinthians 15:31, “…I die daily.”

If we let Jesus have all of us, we would know that we are in His will.  It doesn’t mean we would never be weary.  Jesus was weary.  It doesn’t mean we would get everything on our list accomplished.  It just means we did what we were supposed to do.  We would still be tired, and most likely not able to get everything done, but we would be content with what we did accomplish that day.

If we put Jesus first, we will have grateful hearts.  We will be grateful we are able to work. We will be grateful that we have so much to do that we cannot get everything on our lists accomplished and that we are tired at the end of the day.  We will be grateful for our health.  We will be grateful that we live in America and have the opportunity to serve Him without fear of death.  We will be grateful for our Lord’s ultimate sacrifice, His own blood.

Have you had enough? Let us take the steps to put Jesus first in our lives.  Let us get rid of the “me first” mentality and develop servants’ hearts.  Jesus was the greatest servant of all. Let us follow His example.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Worthington has five children and eleven grandchildren.  She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.