Keep the main thing the main thing.

And how a random passage reminds us what happens when we do that.

I’m back.

Last week, I took a break from daily posting. I didn’t really want to. I’ve come to really enjoy the process of putting my thoughts together, sharing them with you, and then reading your feedback.

But God told me to take a break. He told me I needed to recapture the point of doing all this in the first place: to seek him daily. This blog was never meant to be the goal; it was always meant to capture the overflow of what I was doing every morning anyway.

I think in some ways it became the main thing, and God needed to remind me of that.

So maybe it’s no coincidence what I read in the Bible this morning. It’s a random passage that reminded me of what happens when we’re faithful to do what God tells us to do. It was helpful for me, and I hope it’s helpful for you.

It all started with something kind of silly. See, there are some days where I do something pretty crazy. I literally just open my Bible and start reading whatever is in front of me. No reading plan, no devotional, no inspiration. I felt I needed to do that this morning and let God just kind of take over. So I let the pages pass over my left thumb and then just stopped, opened, and read.

I landed on Jeremiah 35. Have you ever read Jeremiah 35? I haven’t. Interestingly, Jeremiah 35 is all about drinking.

There’s no way that’s a coincidence. The story I’m telling now — the book I’m writing now — is all about my sobriety journey. It’s about being a Christian that became an alcoholic, not an alcoholic that became a Christian. So to land on Jeremiah 35 is more than a little…funny.

In this chapter, Jeremiah meets a nomadic tribe called the Rechabites. Long story short, God tells Jeremiah to go to them and offer them wine. They refuse the wine. Why? Because their father had commanded them to never drink, and they made a vow to follow that command. Jeremiah was inspired by their honesty and their devotion, and God then used the Rechabites as an example to Israel of what it looks like to keep your word. They were then rewarded, not monetarily but spiritually, for their obedience and commitment.

You can’t make this stuff up, right? Here I am nearly 14 months into keeping my own vow to never drink again, I open up the Bible randomly and am brought to a story of what it looks like to keep a vow not to drink, all on the heels of God telling me to take time to remember what it looks like to keep the main thing the main thing.

Wow.

And I think that’s what I’m supposed to tell you today. Friend, you need to keep the main thing the main thing. What has God made clear to you that you need to be doing? Keep doing that. Don’t get distracted. Don’t deviate. That passion and identity that he’s given you, do that.

My friend Lara Casey Isaacson went viral years ago for writing, “You know all those things you’ve always wanted to do? You should go do them.” I want to alter that a little bit today:

You know that thing that God has stamped on your heart and told you to do? You should do it. And then keep doing it.

By the way, what was the actual reward that the Rechabites got for being faithful in this way?

God promised that they “shall never lack a man to stand before me.” That may not seem like much. It may even be confusing. But here’s what it means according to the ESV study Bible: “‘Stand before’ is a synonym for serving God in his presence, often in the temple.”

In other words, the Rechabites received one of the highest honors imaginable, while also getting more of God. I get it: that might not seem like a lot. But friend, it is everything. By being faithful and obedient, they got the greatest thing in the world.

That’s the reward for keeping the main thing the main thing. We get more of God and we get more of what matters most. I want that. You need that. We should pursue it.

That’s my prayer as we start out the week.

(Pic: Doing some morning writing.)