Looking Out for #1

I went to the Social Security office today. I walked in, took a number and sat down. Immediately a woman who was already there jumped up and said that she didn't know she had to take a number. She hurried to the machine to get her number and told me that she had been there for a long time. She was the next person in line, or should I say was the next person until I came in and took a number.

My first thought was 'alright! I'll be out of here in no time.'

We both took our seats. She was rambling on about something but I wasn't really paying attention. Then she said to me again that she had been there for a long while and that what she had to do wouldn't take very long. I thought to myself, 'well you should have paid attention and taken a number.'

The clerk called my number and I went up to the counter. I got ready to sit down but instead, I told the lady about the other lady who was there before me and that she should go first. This happened so quickly, I didn't have time to ponder this. It was very strange. So we exchanged tickets and she went before me and thanked me.

My point is not to pat myself on the back but quite the opposite. I could have gone before her and that would not have been wrong. After all, I was next in line. But it would not have been the right thing to do because she was there first.

Another thing is that I did not put her above me. As children of God we are to love others above ourselves but all that was in my heart was myself. I am not very happy with myself right now because it is a reminder that my heart is wicked and that it manifests itself in everyday, mundane things in life.

Yes technically I did the right thing outwardly. But God looks at the heart and in this I failed miserably. It is my standing prayer that the Lord change my heart and to think of others above myself.