Store Christ’s Commands

My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart.

Proverbs 3:1

I’ll admit it: I’m very sentimental. It’s why I have many boxes, bins, and stacks of pictures that I haven’t been able to part with yet because I need to go through them.

I even have a hard time throwing away people’s family Christmas cards because their sweet faces are on them. Once I ended up wallpapering a whole wall in our powder room with family greeting cards, which became quite a conversation piece and kept a line at the door. Another year I covered a piece of black fabric with photos of family and friends and placed it under the glass tabletop in our den. We still enjoy seeing all of their faces there. (Other friends have been delighted to find one of their friends’ photos under that glass tabletop, not knowing we shared a mutual friend.)

As sentimental as I am, I am a perpetual simplifier around our home. When I was unexpectedly diagnosed with breast cancer on Good Friday a number of years ago, everything in my life seemed to change so quickly. The cancer affected not only my body but my schedule, too. The seemingly endless tests, treatments, appointments, follow-ups, and living the “in sickness and in health” part of our marriage vows were hard to fit into an already abundant life. There was a lot to do, Lord willing, to get well! How grateful I was to have my personal priorities in place, knowing God loved me. I was His girl and I knew He had my best interest at heart. This made all the difference in my “royal” treatment.

On September 5 I explained how prioritizing God, His Word, and others became simple, sweet, and salty principles in my mind. Once again, here’s a recap of Christ’s commands that permeated my heart years ago and still shape how my days are arranged to live His priorities:

• Simple: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else.” (Matthew 6:33)
• Sweet: “How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.” (Psalm 119:103)
• Salty: “You are the salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13)

Simplify your life today by storing Christ’s commands in your heart.