Loving God by Knowing Him 6: Putting God First in our Lives
In life, there are so many things that clamor for our attention and in our bid to secure these things, our relationship with God can be compromised. The pursuit of these pleasures of life can crowd out our time to study the word of God, pray, preach the word, visit the sick, help those in need and properly care for ourselves, family, and friends. They can also prevent us from making decisions that please God in family, business, relationships etc. We continue to live a life of misplaced priority where we place our hopes on things that are perishable and that can be lost or change at any time instead of placing them on God our savior with hope of eternal life. God is not against our pursuit of these things but wants us to do it in the right context where He is the one in charge of our life and directing that pursuit for our own good, the good of others and to the glory of His Holy Name. The Lord Jesus encouraged us in Matthew 6: 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you
Putting God first means choosing godly decisions in every area of our life because we want to honor God.
We might have set priorities that include: Having incredibly good education, career, happy family, friends, associates and reaching the finished line. All these priorities that we pursue are not bad in themselves because God created those desires in us. The problem occurs when (we)children of God think that we can achieve them on our own and live the way we want, but first:
We must be alive to even begin to think about these things and that life comes from God.
God is also the one that created us and gave us all the talents and abilities that we are trying to develop. He knows how those abilities can be developed so that you achieve the highest potential that he created you for.
In most cases we believe that we do not need God because we already know what we want and how to get it, but have you asked yourself if that way is the way that God wants you to go as a believer?
Also, God is good, loving, kind, compassionate, merciful and wants us to succeed in life and success can be achieved in his wisdom and according to His plans if we give Him the rightful place in our lives
The Bible tells us that these things that we pursue like amazing career, business, family, friends, houses clothing etc. are easy to acquire when we have set our priorities in order, where God takes his rightful position; has preeminence over our lives and become the reason for our existence. He has a purpose in creating us and if we submit to His rule and authority, we will be able to walk and work with Him to achieve that purpose and that will bring satisfaction to us and glory to His Holy Name.
Many times, people pursue these things and get severely wounded and scarred in the process. They also severely wound and scar others in their quest to achieve these things. The Bible stated that there is a right process to get these things and that right process is to make God first in your life. When you put Him first, He will direct you, help you to expunge greed, avarice, and selfishness. You develop contentment (not laziness) with that which he has given to you. This does not mean loss of ambition, but it means that He directs your ambition for the right causes and with the right reasons.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said that the heathen seek these things because they do not have a living God like our father who cares for His children. They are like children without parents, so, they must make the pursuit of these things a priority. Matthew 6:32. However, we have a living God, the creator of life and all that is in the earth, therefore, He wants us to set our priority right by developing a loving relationship with him and these things He will provide for us-He will give you ideas to develop, cause favor to follow you in your endeavor, strengthen you in your weakness, counsel you when you are not doing ok and comfort you when you fail and other numerous blessings that come from knowing Him. It is a provision that flows from the natural relationship that we have with our father. If you have children don’t you provide for them? But what you wish most is that they will have loving relationship with you.
The Lord Jesus said that we should seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added unto us. By seeking Him and knowing Him, you are guaranteed a place in your family because you know your father and your father knows you. Seeking Him means establishing a loving relationship with Him where you look to honor Him in all your affairs. You want to do things the way it pleases Him, seek direction for your career, education, marriage, business, friendship etc. Nothing is off limits. Your daily interaction is guided by Him and the Holy Spirit. So that you as His child will become an extension of His family/kingdom to achieve His purpose in creating you.
His love is so wonderful that when you love God, you will know how to love yourself and other people in your lives. If you do not love God first, you just operate out of selfish ambition. Matthew 22:37-38 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
To put God first means to establish a loving relationship with God where God’s values take preeminence in all that you do, and you love Him above yourself, family, children, career etc. When you love Him, you will receive strength and ability to love yourself, family and neighbor well. Also, He does not want you to have another God beside Him because we can easily make idols out of things that He has given to us. Abraham demonstrated this kind of loving trust in God when God asked him to sacrifice the child of promise that God gave him after so many decades. Because God was first in Abraham’s life, Abraham did not hesitate and consulted with no one in doing what God asked Him to do. You know why? because, Abraham believed God wholeheartedly; had known God personally; and has seen all the different beautiful attributes of God and therefore he knows that God is for him and will not go against him and that whatever He asked Abraham to do, must be for Abraham’s own good. The Bible recorded that in sacrificing Isaac, Abraham believed that God would raise him up.
So, making God First in our lives starts with the kind of opinion that we have about God. That opinion will shape how we interact with God and will determine if you will seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And whether you will defer to him in all that you do.
What shaped your opinion and worldview of God? Family, Christian friends, church, educators, Social Media, books, movies, the internet, personal experience, and other happenings in your life and the world?
Is your worldview of God the right one? But how we develop opinion about someone is by relating with the individual and that our experience and opinion will no longer be based on hearsay but on that which we have a personal knowledge of. The Bible that chronicled God’s relationship with humans like us has shown us who God is and therefore it is better to get the best and candid opinion of God by developing a personal relationship with Him that entails studying His word, praying to him, and making his values your priority in life. He said draw closer to me and I will draw closer to you; James 4:8. Seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your Heart; Jeremiah 29:13
From relating with Him, you will find out that He is good, loving, caring, compassionate, faithful, merciful. He will always watch your back and fight for you. When you encounter persecution and difficulties for His name’s sake, He will not forsake you. After knowing Him, you will no longer be afraid to place your life in His hand. ◄ Isaiah 41:10 ► So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Why does He want us to place Him first in our lives? So that He will guide us into his beautiful plans for us. He will not do it forcefully but love us to submit our will to Him so that we and Him, together will achieve His plans for us and we become instruments of His righteousness to the glory of His Holy Name.
This is a call for us to have an enduring relationship with God by obeying His words and through experience we know and love God our father in a personal way. We see the characters of God manifesting to us through obedience to His word because we honored Him and put Him first in our lives. BLESSINGS
