I was at a stop light the other day and happened to look in the car next to me (totally creeper, I know! You know you totally do it too!). The two adults in the front seat were casually smoking as they talked, nonchalantly blowing smoke out of the cracked window. The sunlight hitting the glass made the smoke still filling their car strangely clear, the inhales and exhales evident in each ray of light. And, like so many stories we’ve heard and seen, there sat the innocent child in the backseat, with no choice but to fill his lungs with the secondhand air.

As I looked upon the scene, I was saddened for the child, to see an adult in charge of protecting them putting them in harms way. The adults in that child’s life were allowing that cigarette to dictate what’s most important, placing the value of the nicotine fix over the value of their child’s health.

Not to single out smoking, as I continued my drive, the Holy Ghost reminded me that many scenarios can place value on the wrong thing. For example, playing on your phone or texting while you’re driving is in some ways on the same level as a parent smoking a cigarette in the car with the child. Both situations are devaluing the child and not putting his best interest at heart. While of course, smoking does place the child at a certain health risk, both situation place a temporary “fix” above what is most important.

There are so many scenarios where this statement would be true. These are just two examples, but you know where that statement would fit in your own life. We have all experienced distractions that take time, attention and affection away from where, if we actually examined what we believe in and desire, are the opposite of where we’d like our time, attention and affection to be placed.

The devil is a distracter. He’s a schemer. And he’s really good at dressing things up in exactly the right costume so that you forget the actual scene you are standing in. But if we become so accustomed to our society’s cultural norms, we will also become accustomed to placing value on the wrong things and not enough value on the right things.

Colossians 3:3 says to set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Even our affections belong to Him, so don’t let the brainwashing of this world steal time away from you from you giving Him exactly that. We just have a funny way of putting off the most important for the least important, but with God’s help this week, let’s reverse that and put it in the right order.

Here’s a great scripture to meditate on along those lines: Galatians 5:24 “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” That’s us!

Praying for you to all have a blessed week, full of putting first things first!