Chances are this devotion arrived in your inbox quietly after a pile of weekend junk mail and before the deluge of early morning messages about the million things you need to do today. Even now, you’re trying to block out the noise and pressure of a busy week.

If we’re not careful, our to-do list at the end of the week will look much like it does right now. In the onslaught of things that will come our way, from tasks, distractions and people, it’ll be easy to lose focus on what’s most important to us. Then we simply don’t get to the core of our priority list.

Spiritually speaking, it’s easy for this to happen to each of us. We commit to reading our Bible, praying more often and sharing our faith with our friends. We hold on to the church bulletin insert with the volunteer opportunity listed, believing we’ll sign up for it later this week.

Then life happens. We get busy. Our children need to get to practice. Something unexpected happens at work. Our good intentions fall away. Our commitment fades. We fall back into life as we’ve always lived it.

This week doesn’t have to be like that. We can live intentionally for Christ, serving where he calls us to serve, sharing our faith through the divine appointments he’s already coordinating.

Let’s do all we can to put Christ first this week and follow where he leads.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. –Deuteronomy 6:5

Deeper reflection:

• What distracts you from accomplishing what needs to be done?
• What can you do to focus on living for God this week?

Next steps:

• Create a list of things you want to focus on spiritually this week.
• Take actions to help you accomplish that list. Set alerts on your phone to remind you to pray. Schedule time on your calendar to study Scripture. Call the friend you've been wanting to share your faith with and ask if they'd like to go to lunch.