We Need To Make Time For What Should Be First In Our Life Series

INTRODUCTION

We only have one life to live, and we can either waste it or we can invest it. You cannot do both; you are either going to waste your life or invest your life, but you cannot do a little of each. Jesus tells us that in His Sermon on the Mount. He says: you cannot serve two masters. So, which life are you going to live by in 2022- another year of wasting your life; or this year you are going to choose to invest your life in the things of God?

If you want to invest your life for God, that journey must begin with a question. Who or what is the most important person or thing in my life at this present moment? For some of us, the most important thing in our life is a who- it is our family. For others, the most important thing in their life is a what- their job. There are people who truly love their jobs; and it means everything to them. If they didn’t have that job, they would be so lost. But God says the most important who or what in your life must be Him. Listen to what Jesus says once again in Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Jesus says without a doubt I must be first. He even told us again that He must be first when He said: the first and greatest commandment is that you love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

So, how do I go about making God first? We hope to answer that today by going back to an Old Testament prophet and seeing what God said through him and what we can learn when God spoke through Jeremiah. So, if you have your Bible or if you prefer to read the Scripture from one of our screens, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word. Jeremiah 9:23-24.

BIBLE VERSE

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NKJV)

23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;

24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.

1 ONE

TO MAKE GOD FIRST, I MUST AVOID THE OBSTACLES THAT GET IN THE WAY. IN OTHER WORDS, GOD WARNS US THAT THERE ARE MANY ROADBLOCKS THAT PREVENT US FROM MAKING HIM FIRST.

Jeremiah 9:23 (NKJV)

23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;

Do you realize that in your day to day walk with Jesus, there are obstacles that get in the way that prevent you from getting as close to Jesus as He desires you to be? In our verse that I just read, the Lord Himself mentioned three obstacles. They are the wisdom of this world, our strength to handle things on our own (that is called self-sufficiency), and our wealth that we possess. And that list is by no means the only obstacles that keep us from making God first.

Off the top of my head, let me name a couple of more obstacles that I have witnessed. How about bitterness because God did not do what you wanted Him to do. Or how about spiritual neglect- you have not taken care of your spiritual business in the past for whatever reason, and you have drifted away from God, and it is hard to get back to making Him first in your life.

So, in this room here there are people with varying degrees of making God first in their life. There are some that are working hard in making God first in their life. There are some others that are one or two obstacles away from making God first in their life. And there are others that are multiple obstacles away from making God first in your life.

It is God desire that in each one of our lives that all those obstacles be removed, and you make God first in your life. And He promises that He will do what He needs to do to remove those obstacles in your life. Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

But the sticking point is this. I have a free will and I may desire my obstacle more than I desire making God first in my life. Let me give you a Biblical example. The rich young ruler came to Jesus wanting to make Jesus first in his life. Jesus pointed out to him an obstacle that stood in the way. In this case, he was controlled by his riches. Riches in themselves are not bad; (Abraham was a rich man but he dd not allow his riches to become an obstacle in his relationship with God); riches become bad when they control you. And Jesus knew this man’s riches controlled him. So, Jesus told him that he must remove the obstacle, but he could not do it.