Who’s Number One (And How Do We Know?)
Essence of the Lesson in a Sentence:
Christ’s pre-eminence in our lives will order our priorities to receive the life He promised
for us.
As I tried to make sense of so many thoughts for this sermon, I took a mental break to check my Facebook, hoping to find some momentary relief from the intensity of pulling my sermon together. I didn’t go shopping for it, but my eyes found a quote in a friend’s page that absolutely floored me, and I realized it summarizes what God is saying to me-very simply:
“Be someone’s priority, not their option!”
It’s the cry of the human heart-to be at the center of another’s hopes and dreams, and for that same person to share that position in your own life. It’s the ideal for intimacy, the prescription for passion and a life with another person.
I’d like for you to take a moment and let that simple concept speak to you. I believe it’s what God is saying to us today.
God does not “need” us for anything. The scriptures tell us that he desires us-to love and nurture us as a father does his child. Over and over he uses the concept of a father to illustrate His love and desires for us. I think about my relationship with my own girls-imperfect as it is- my love for them is a
reflection of the love I received from my own father (and mother). Yet, I know for a fact that my father never received that kind of love, guidance and
attention from his earthly father-it came from His walk with God. In my own imperfect way, the love of God flows through me to my own children, as it did to me from my parents.
So it follows-my greatest desire for my girls is to see them walking with God, being productive in their lives. I want them to have healthy, engaging lives and work. I want them to have the best relationships that life can offer. I have lived longer than them and
through my own mistakes and pain, I can see potential train wrecks in their lives, and I will sound the alarm when I see them. I can’t always rescue them from their own pain and mistakes, and some of that will be necessary for them to grow and the pain will make them
stronger, if they keep it in perspective. Yet it will hurt me every time I see them fall,and it will hurt worse when they don’t come to me.
Do I even matter to them? I hope so because I love them so much. Can I coerce them to listen
to me? Not a chance! If I do I will only drive them far from me. If they love me, and it follows that I have earned their respect and love, my words to them
and my presence in their lives will be a priority. I will not just be an option-their daddy will be a priority among the advisors and counselors they can look to in their lives.
The illustration breaks down at the point where I acknowledge that I am imperfect, and without infinite wisdom! I can’t be all things to my daughters. I cannot be their number one priority. I have failed them many times, and if they understand that I am weak in a particular area, they will not heed my advice, and move on to other priorities.
But let’s take it where it needs to go-
We have a Heavenly Father, and by our own testimony the large majority of us here have trusted our eternal salvation to Him. We came to the Cross one day and asked Him to come into our lives to save us-so that we could escape His wrath, being justified by our faith-we are freed from the penalty of our own sin. It is a glorious thing!
We are His people-He created us in His image. As Christians we absolutely agree on this! He
is all-knowing, always present, and all-powerful. He is the Creator, our Heavenly Father and He knows the beginning from the end. He will not fail.
He can be “everything” to us. As a matter of fact, He has called His people to place Him at the very apex of their lives, in the first and highest chair.
He *must* be our priority-without Him we can do nothing.
We speak often of the firstborn of all men-Adam and Eve. They walked and talked with God himself in the Garden before their sin separated them from Him. At that point God’s mercy and grace began to be extended towards them and their children as a lifeline. God revealed Himself in the Old Testament through Moses and the Prophets, and His people learned of him as they experienced His daily provision and followed the instruction of the Law and the declarations of their leaders. God often seemed fierce and unknowable in that day. Those who would set their face against him were destroyed.
Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
Moses even uses the human emotion to describe God’s “jealousy” in that He will not share His glory with any one or thing.
Yet this same God who is described as jealous, fierce; demanding to be placed at the forefront-is also gentle and kind. His grace and mercy are seen in every encounter with His creation.
Consider with me- Abraham, the Father of faith and the Jewish Nation is described as the “friend of God.” King David, the richest and most powerful monarch on earth in his day is described as “a man after God’s own heart” and he wrote ancient psalms about his passionate pursuit of his God. Perhaps God’s greatest requirement towards the heart and the path of a
man could be summed up in:
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
And then came Jesus Christ. God himself became flesh; He forever took upon Himself a body, as He was made in the likeness of men.
Colossians 1:17-18
(17) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
(18) And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
No longer do we have to follow God from afar, but we are admonished to draw near to Him!
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water.
(Hebrew 10:19-22)
This same God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has told us that not only will He save us in that day yet to come, but we are even now saved and we are being saved-we are being conformed into His image, step by step as He leads us.
He has told us that His salvation is not just for a life of struggle and pain, for us to barely plod out an existence and make it to Heaven by the skin of our teeth. He has told me that if I will see Him first, that everything I need in my life will be “added unto me.”
Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these
things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall
be added to you.
(Matthew 6:30-33)
So it’s clear-He must become my priority. He cannot simply be my option.
It’s a no-brainer. Why in the world would we place anyone or anything before Him?
Yet it’s also clear-I do have the option. I have before me not only a myriad of choices, My Creator has given me a free-will in a world filled with many distractions-good things, bad things and every item in-between.
Every second of every day, twenty-four seven, I am making choices. I am prioritizing not just my activities, but my allegiances, my goals and the fulfillment of my dreams.
I believe there’s no doubt that God is calling on us today. The past couple of weeks He has led us as a church into this great question-
Who really is number one?
It’s so easy to give the theology and use the Scriptures to weave a solid sermon that shows
us what God expects. But then we wake up. It’s 5:30 am on Monday morning and we have ten thoughts hit our still-groggy mind before our feet hit the floor. We are faced with the first choice of the day-to get up and start working our list of priorities. There are problems and there are blessings, issues and opportunities. We begin to stack our priorities before our feet touch the floor.
How will we spend our day? Where will we center our thoughts? Will we simply “make a living?” or go through our day being randomly tossed as we react to those around us and simply to try to stay out of trouble- and see “another day, another dollar?”
Is God simply an option? If it’s convenient or practical-if I don’t have too much other work-will I take some time today to seek Him and His will for my life?
It’s about- keeping the Main Thing, the main thing.
If I’ve brought you this far with me, I hope that you have understood that this sermon is my self-portrait. It could easily flow from the pages of my journal. God is working in me about this very issue right now. I’m so distracted-I have missed Him so many times. I hope it doesn’t disillusion you to understand that the Pastor needs to get his priorities
straight.
As we begin to bring this truth home, I don’t know that we have easy answers. One of you torpedoed me in our discussion following Wednesday night Bible Study! In my best preacher-voice I had explained how God must be our number one priority, our anchor, our center-point. I quoted Matthew 6:33 and several other scriptures, all the while feeling just a bit queasy because those very words were piercing my own heart like an arrow.
Then one of you had to say it…
“How do we know that God is in first place in our lives?”
You jut had to go and get practical didn’t you? (smiles)
I stumbled for a moment and I shook my head and said “good question.” I think that question
took my breath away, and I’ve thought of little else now for four days. I’ve put that question to my wife and we spent lunch on Thursday at the Cracker Barrel discussing it. It turned out to be one of the most challenging and spiritually intimate discussions I’ve had with her in years.
I put it to a group of three other men over our “think and pray” session at the coffee house on Friday morning. I’ve put it out to my best pastor friends and to anyone who would listen over the past few days.
I believe God has led me to several issues. This is by no means some exhaustive list, but rather practical, daily thinking points that I am going to keep ever before me, minute by minute. I call them a “Heart-Check.”
What am I hungry for…what would it take to satisfy me spiritually, emotionally, physically?
Where am I investing myself?
Are the people around me bringing peace and joy into my life; are my relationships bringing
more of God’s blessing into my life?
Is my presence in the lives of others bringing peace, joy and love-and the presence of God
into their world?
Am I communicating with God, throughout the day as an on-going dialogue rather than as “prayer time?” (Pray without ceasing).
When something has to go, the plate is to full- what goes first?
Who receives glory from my daily life? Where does the praise go?
Do I give thanks to God and to others readily and daily for what He has done in my life?
What are my dreams and plans?
Am I “following my heart” or am I actively leading my heart?
Add yours-prayerfully and from deep within. I ask you-to ask yourself
“Is God Number One in my life?”
In closing, consider with me the real-life story of a man who came to Jesus, fully sure of
himself that He had it together. He was a rich young man, and Jesus gave him some mighty stiff requirements concerning His priority-
Mark 10:17-27
Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him,
"Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" (18) So Jesus said to
him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. (19) You know the
commandments: ’Do not commit adultery,’ ’Do not murder,’ ’Do not steal,’ ’Do not bear false
witness,’ ’Do not defraud,’ ’Honor your father and your mother.’ " [46] (20) And he
answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." (21) Then
Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell
whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take
up the cross, and follow Me." (22) But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful,
for he had great possessions.
What will it take to keep YOU from Jesus and the life He has for you?
(from the song What Will It Take To Keep You From Jesus-Michael Card)
