Let God Be First

PRAY

Heavenly Father,

open our eyes so we can see Your truth.

Open our ears so w can hear Your voice.

Open our mind so we can understand Your Word.

And open our heart so we may receive all that You want me to receive. AMEN

Let God be First Instead of Pushing Him Out of the Picture is a pretty bold statement. It implies that people are actually doing that, pushing God out of their lives.

No one would ever do that. Or would they?

I believe that many on this continent have done just that. People are pushing God so far out of the picture in their lives that our western society operates completely opposite from His will.

Do you want proof?

In our society we see things that are wrong being called right and things that are right being called wrong.

So much is wrong in our world today and it all is a result of people not allowing God to be first in their lives. It is such a simple philosophy and yet many, even those who call themselves Christians fail to live by.

The moral and ethical standards in this world and in this nation are becoming obsolete.

We are pushing God further back and children are carrying guns to school, innocent people are dying, sexual immorality is common place; even on prime time television, the lines between right and wrong are becoming more and more blurry.

We are pushing God further back and people today argue over creation, they disagree on sin issues, and they live their lives as if they are the only ones who matter.

Church it is time that we stop pushing God out of the picture and we start letting God be first.

Let God be first! It is such a simple thing to do.

Do you know who God is?

He is the creator of all things.

He is a Father who loves you.

He gave us the greatest gift of all, eternal life through Jesus Christ.

He has healing for us.

He has provision for us.

He has strength for us.

He has protection for us.

He has promised to help us when bad things happen.

He has promised to never leave or forsake us.

And all He asks is that we follow Him and allow Him to be first.

Let – allow – to permit

to be – to remain – to continue – to have a place and a position first – foremost in rank, the most important thing in your life, before anything else.

God desires that we allow Him to be first. That is why He said, “I am the Lord your God… You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2-3

The very first commandment that God gives is for Him to be first. That is why Jesus said to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:4 “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” ESV

Let God be first!

Why is it so hard for people to let God be first? Anyone care to answer that?

The Apostle Paul tells us the answer in Romans 7:18.

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. Romans 7:18 ESV

Our flesh is under the control of our minds and if our mind wants something the flesh says, “Yeah, let’s go for it!”

We have a tendency to indulge our flesh more than we indulge our God. Then we end up satisfying our flesh so much that we have nothing left to give God.

And the truth about the flesh is that our flesh is never satisfied. No matter what we do our flesh is always going to want more.

It does not matter how much you have, what you have achieved, who you know, where you have been, how far you have gone, or anything else. The flesh wants more.

That is the mentality of our society. Get all we can first and then if we have time we will seek God.

This is not the plan that God has for us. Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 6.

Jesus is just about done with the Sermon on the Mount; He had just concluded the portion of the message that talked about people not worrying about the needs of life when He said this.

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33 ESV

Jesus is talking to people who have pledged their allegiance to King of kings. These people said that they were going to follow Jesus.