The Other Son: What Happens When Your Orbit Shifts
"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." — Colossians 1:17 (ESV)
When I think about my faith, I think about Jesus — God's Son. But there's another sun worth thinking about, too.
The Sun sits at the center of our solar system. Everything orbits around it. It generates enough energy to sustain all life on Earth, and its gravity holds the entire system in place. But here's what makes it remarkable: if Earth's orbit shifted by even a small margin, life as we know it would end. Move closer, and we burn. Move farther, and we freeze. The margin between thriving and destruction is thinner than most people realize.
That's not just astronomy. That's a picture of what life with Christ looks like.
Paul tells the Colossians that Christ is before all things and that in Him all things hold together. He's not describing a Jesus who plays a supporting role in your life. He's describing a gravitational center — the One everything else was designed to orbit around. When he's at the center, things hold. When He's not, they start to drift.
And drift is the danger because it's rarely dramatic. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to abandon their faith. The orbit shifts gradually. A quiet time gets skipped, then another. A decision is made without consulting Him. A season of busyness pushes Him from the center. Christ isn't removed — He's just repositioned. And by the time you notice the temperature changing, you're further from center than you thought.
The Earth doesn't have to try to orbit the Sun. It was designed to. But we have a choice. Every day, we decide whether Christ remains at the center or gets pushed to the margins by something that feels more urgent. Career. Comfort. Control. None of those things are inherently wrong — but when any of them replaces Christ as the center of gravity, the orbit shifts, and everything downstream is affected.
Realignment doesn't require a dramatic overhaul. It requires an honest look at what's actually at the center — and the willingness to put the Son back where He belongs.
Big Idea
Christ isn't meant to be part of your life. He's meant to be the center of it — and even a small shift in that priority changes everything.
Questions to Ponder
If you're honest, what's currently at the center of your life — what is your life orbiting around? Is it Jesus, or has something else quietly taken that position? If the latter is the case, can you pinpoint when and why your orbit shifted? Were you aware of this shift, or did it occur without your noticing? What drove this shift?
Application
Take an honest inventory of what's at the center of your daily life. Not what you'd say on a Sunday morning — what's actually driving your decisions, time, and attention on a Tuesday afternoon. If Christ has been pushed to the margins, name what replaced Him. Then take one concrete step to realign: restart the quiet time you've been skipping, bring a decision to Him before you make it, or simply acknowledge His presence in a moment you'd normally power through alone. The orbit doesn't correct itself. You have to choose to move back toward the center.
Before the Lord — a daily devotional by Blake S. Crawford. Read more and subscribe free at blakescrawford.com/before-the-lord.