When I was studying for my banking exams many moons ago, I did night school and afternoon release at Bolton Technical College and our tutor for Accounts had a saying that you need to hear and understand this because its ‘vitally important’. In truth he said it that many times that everything in his accounts world was vitally important, which in reality is not tenable. Everything cannot be vitally important i.e. what I have for my breakfast is not, what I wear for a day in my office is not but it asks the question then what is important in our lives and of course it will be different for us all and to differing degrees..
When I meet with wedding couples I sometimes ask them to independently complete a questionnaire entitled ‘It’s important to me’. It is a series of questions that asks them what they want from their relationship and to rate them as ‘Very/Fairly/Not important’ things such as;
‘To build a home’
‘To bring up children’
‘To be loved’
When they have completed them we discuss the results together of those things they feel they can and I encourage them to continue the conversation when I am not there. It is important that when two people go into a relationship that they are mindful of what is important to each other. I have met couples wanting to get married that have not had some very important conversations about what is important to them and where they have been poles apart but many others where there is a much closer symmetry in their thinking .
So it begs the question in your relationship with Jesus what is ‘vitally important to you’ and what do you read in scripture that tells us what is ‘vitally important to Jesus’? To answer
the second part of that question we know that Jesus said to us who choose to follow him that we must;
Love God, Neighbour and self,
Be part of the body of Christ[his church]
Worship the Lord your God
Share the good news
Of course there are many other things but surely these four are ‘vitally important’ and recur many times in scripture, but what about you, what’s important to you in your relationship with Jesus, and as with wedding couples are there many points of symmetry with him?
I also wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your messages and cards and prayerful support to Shelley and I over the recent passing of my dad. We have felt upheld in your love and I know when I led his funeral service that your prayers and our loving Heavenly Father gave me strength.
Your friend and servant
Alan