Pointing to Jesus

Exodus 20:3- You shall have no other gods before me.

This is the first of the 10 commandments, and it commands us to give God first place in our lives. A god is anything or anyone that we make more important in our lives than God. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” This is part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is preaching about not being anxious because He knows the things we have need of. Proverbs 3:5,6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”

God wants to rule and reign in our hearts and minds. Putting God first means that we put what He thinks above what we think, we put what He wants us to do above what we want to do, put His will above our will.

One of the reasons it’s so important to put God first is that when we face difficult and challenging times, we will turn to Him first; we will turn to worship and praise music first; we will turn to His Word first. Every time we choose to do something that draws us closer to Him, we move in the direction of putting Him first. We don’t want to turn to things that don’t satisfy or fulfill us the way that only God can. Nor do we want to turn to things that do not please Him.

Some of the ways we can put God first and keep Him first are doing the spiritual disciplines that I talked about in my last three posts, which are going to church, reading the Bible, and praying, consistently. There are some more things we can do daily or consistently as well: listen to a Christian podcast; read or listen to a Christian book; watch a Christian movie; go to a Christian concert; listen to praise and worship music; study the Bible- do a verse, character, chapter, or book study; sit and be quiet and listen to what the Holy Spirit speaks to you.

Yes, these all take time, and we are all busy. I know it may be more challenging with kids. Let your kids see/hear you do some of these things. Some can be done while we are cleaning, cooking, driving, and waiting at an appointment.

We are all on this journey together, and no one does it perfectly, but we can live purposefully. Let’s purposefully pursue God together and strive to put Him first in everything.

Many blessings,

Desiree