In everything …

The bowl was displayed prominently in an office I had with a church ministry during the 90’s.

It was a handsome blue-white hand-made piece of art. It wasn’t expensive as far as real costs are measured, but it was priceless to me because it was a gift.

The bowl was a gracious expression of appreciation from a counseling client, a young, talented triathlete. He had fallen head-over-heels in love with a brunette beauty and married quickly.

Too quickly.

She seemed to be as intoxicated with him as he was with her before they were married. But once they were married, the only thing she wanted was out. He tried everything to save their marriage, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with it. She came to one counseling session only to flatly express she was not staying.

He was heartbroken, she was moving on.

Because much of his time was spent training for competition, he had little time to work, which meant his income was barely enough to get by. I didn’t charge for clinical counseling because it was ministry. So we spent several sessions working through the issues in his life. At the end of our time together, this young man wanted to express his appreciation and friendship in some way, so he presented me with the piece of art he had created.

Because of what the gift meant to me, it was prominently displayed in my office where I could see it often and remember my time with a new friend.

It’s not uncommon for us to place who or what is important to us in prominent places in our lives. The problem is, we tend to give Jesus Christ only a place of prominence instead of the pre-eminence He deserves …

“Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything,” Colossians 1:18

Like a piece of art, we tend to give Jesus a place of prominence in our lives, but not pre-eminence: “… first in everything.”

To be pre-eminent isn’t simply to be first, but first in everything. This is the place Jesus Christ deserves in our lives.

Does He have that place in your life?

Scotty