Franklyput

I am a follower of Christ.
I am a husband.
I am a dad.
I am a pastor.

That is a simplified list of the priorities in my life. There’s a truck-load more that I could include there, but all of it would shrink in comparison to those 4 things.

I am a follower of Christ. I was faced with the fact that I have nothing good in myself, and that even on my best day, all the positive I could do in this world did nothing short of nauseate God. Not because He is such an impossible God to please, but because I was trying to pay for my soul by doing good, being good, and staying good, when in fact He had already paid that bill. I was, by my actions, telling God that His payment was no good, and that I could and should do so much more. The problem was, the payment was His 1 and only Son, Jesus.

After finally getting humble and admitting that I was lost and could do nothing about it myself,  I willingly put my trust in Jesus, and in Him alone. No rules, no laws, no standards, no occupation, no baptism, no church, no other person could save me. Simply Jesus, and Jesus alone.

As a result, I follow Him. It would be right to say that I do it because I had to, because I am a debtor. But I don’t.  I follow Him because I want to.

I am a husband. September of 1993 I met my wife. I can say with integrity she has been the only one for me since the moment I laid eyes on her. In May of 1995 we were married, and have been walking together since. Our marriage has been filled with excitement, some of which we both would have rather skipped, but in the end, we have grown closer to each other because of all of it. I am grateful that my wife is beautiful, and a perfect example of Proverbs 31. She is everything I need.

I am a dad. The most intimidating relationship in my life is the one I have with my kids. I am scared out of my mind that I will mess them up. Our 4 “cherubs” are a constant challenge to me, and a huge encouragement. Without going into too much detail, let me introduce you to them by using their primary personality characteristic. There is the Engineer. Then there is the Girly-Girl. Then, the Athlete. And last, but not least, the Comedian. We do not have a dull home…

I am a pastor. This is remarkable in and of itself. There are godly men and women who are in Heaven right now laughing about the fact that I am a pastor. Back in the day, very few people ever dreamed I would make it through college alive, forget make it this much further, and be a pastor.

That being said, it’s a job. I love it. I love working with people. I love sitting down with someone and showing them answers to questions they have out of the Bible. I love preaching and teaching, and, imagine this, studying.

But it pales in comparison to the other 3 priorities.

May God give me the grace to maintain this list of priorities in my life.