Pursuing “Quality” not “Quantity” - Morning by Morning, May 19, 2025

“How then should we live?” (Ezekiel 33:10)

Written and sent out from the morning prayer time of Tommy Hays each day.

God bless you and may you have a great day!
—Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

http://messiah-ministries.org

Transcript

Morning by Morning, May 19, 2025 - Pursuing “Quality” not “Quantity”

Good morning, Lord Jesus. All is well with my soul when my soul is wholly surrendered to You. ...

“How then should we live?” (Ezekiel 33:10)

As I wait upon the leading of Your Spirit this morning, the thought comes to mind of the news of our former President who was just diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. I’m led to ponder the frailty of human life and our struggle for significance or legacy, for meaning in the moments of our days, in this short period of time we have on this earth. “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

So this question comes to mind from the Prophet Ezekiel: “How then should we live?” (Ezekiel 33:10). It’s akin to the question the Apostle Peter asks in contemplation of the uncertainty of our lives from our perspective, even amidst the certainty of Your sovereignty from Your perspective: “What manner of persons ought (we) to be?” (2 Peter 3:11)

What comes to my heart is this sense: “It’s not about the quantity of what we do, but about the quality of who we become.” ...

Now, the words and face of Mike Chaille, a teacher and friend from early in my ministry, now at home with the Lord, come to mind: “We are not human doings, but human beings.” 

The emphasis of our lives is not to be about what we do as much as who we are becoming, growing in our understanding of who we are in You and who You are in us, as sons and daughters of God, living out our lives in the constant communion of our personal relationship with You. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

So in this sort of wake-up call to mortality and call to rightly align my priorities and perspective with Heaven’s heart for my time here on earth, let me grow in the grace of my quality of relationship with You. Let that be my focus. Let that be my legacy. 

As the Apostle Paul came to realize in the realignment of his life priorities along the way of his spiritual journey with You, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). “Indeed I count everything (else) as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

Thank You for the grace of the freedom from the tyranny of struggling for “quantity” and the peace You grant in the simple pursuit of “quality” in my relationship with You—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. As King David come to understand, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4).

Like Mary, who focused primarily on being with You, as compared to Martha who was primarily busy about doing her tasks, may I choose the best part, the only part that really matters. As You said, “Few things are needed—indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42).

By the grace of God, I choose the better part. I choose the priority of “quality” over “quantity” as my legacy and way of life. This then, is how I choose to live—as best as I can and all by Your grace. Now, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with (us) all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.