Who's on First?
Matthew 6:24-34
Coach Bobby Bowden of Florida State liked to inspire his teams with parables. According to Tennessee Titans center Kevin Long, who played under Bowden, one of Bowden’s favorite stories centered on his playing days in college baseball. Bowden had never hit a home run until one day he hit one down the right-field line, into the corner. Seizing the opportunity he rounds first, and glances over to the third-base coach. He turned at second, was halfway to third, and the coach was still waving him on. Coming down the stretch with the focus and force of an Olympic sprinter, Bowden hits home plate. He had his first home run. There were high fives all round from his fellow teammates. But in the midst of the celebrations, the pitcher took the ball, threw it to the first baseman, and the umpire called him out. Retelling the story Coach Bowden reminds his players: “If you don’t take care of first base, it doesn’t matter what you do.”
Truthfully one of the most important positions on the baseball diamond is that of first base. The athlete who plays this position will quite often determine the outcome of the game. Los Angeles Dodger Manager, Don Mattingly says that the first baseman has the chance to be involved in virtually every defensive play. Defensively if you guard first base and don't let the other team get to first base they can't score. Offensively, if you get enough runners to first base, sooner or later someone has to score. It matters both offensively and defensively who is on first.
If the Christian life was a game of baseball, then who is at first base will determine how successful you will be in your Christian life. Spiritually, it is important who is on first in your life. It's a matter of priorities. Simply stated, who or what is first in your life will decide what kind of Christian you will be.
I. What comes first in your life?
A. Matthew 6:21 " For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
B. For some it is money that is first and foremost.
1. 1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
2. The Christian is not to love, be greedy, or covetous of money.
3. Some of the most godly people in the Bible were rich (e.g. Job, Abraham, Joseph, David, Solomon, Barnabas, Philemon, Lydia).
4. But it is a matter of priorities or who's on first?
5. Many Christians don't realize that they are guilty of having the wrong priority when it comes to “the love of money”. If you just ask yourself in looking at how much the Lord blessed you with this past week or month how much have you given back to Him?
6. Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money).
7. 2 Corinthians 9:7 "Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver"
8. 1 Timothy 6:17 "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy."
C. For many it is possessions taking priority
1. Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing."
2. For some it may be anxiety over having the necessities and yet for others it's about accumulating the most stuff.
3. Luke 12:15 "And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
4. First, for those that are anxious about making ends meet, Christ makes it abundantly clear that God knows what you need. God knows our personal needs as well as our greeds. He will supply your needs but don't count on Him supply your greeds.
5. Again it's a matter of priorities and who is on first.
6. It’s not wrong to own a bicycle, even a nice one, but it’s wrong if your bicycle owns you. It’s not wrong to own a big home, a summerhouse, a motorcycle, nice clothes, fine jewelry, an expensive sound system, a fishing boat, or any of the other marks of success in modern life. None of those things is inherently evil. You can enjoy them as long as you understand that everything you have belongs to God, and the things you have are only temporarily loaned to you by the Lord. It’s not wrong to own nice things, but you are in a dangerous place when those nice things own you. How do you know when something “owns” you?
When you need that “thing” as a major source of happiness or fulfillment in your life.
When you can’t imagine living without it.
When you get angry at the thought of losing it.
When that possession is the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think about at night.
When you find yourself thinking about it in every spare moment.
When you are gripped with fear at the thought of losing it.
When you find yourself bringing it up in almost every conversation.
When you get upset if someone else touches it or comes near it.
When you plan your schedule around it.
When you enjoy that “thing” more than being with family and friends.
When it keeps you from church.
When others warn you about your attachment to it.
When worries and concerns about your possessions crowd out the joy in your life. - from Ray Pritchard
7. HA Ironsides said, "The nations of the world make the pursuit of temporal things the main object of their life. Citizens of the Kingdom of heaven are not to imitate their futile pursuits, but rather to be concerned first of all with pleasing God, and ordering our behavior in accordance with the righteous principles of His kingdom."
D. For some it's the pursuit of pleasure that occupies first base.
1. 2 Timothy 3:4-5 talks about that in the end times many professed Christians would be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God and yet have a form of godliness."
2. Americans spend $600.00 on luxuries for every $1.00 they give to missions. More money is spent on tobacco each year than both the U.S. and Canada have spent on missions since the discovery of America!
3. Hiebert says "They put devotion to self-satisfaction above devotion to God. Love for God is not a controlling motive in their lives."
4. People live for their pleasures because they are convinced that it is the right aim in life for them and the result is the wrong thing is on first base in their lives.
5. God never made us to live for ourselves. All His gifts and life itself was never to live for our own selves.
6. There is nothing wrong with being happy and seeking pleasure. The difficulty comes when one seeks to find something of value apart from God. Pleasure alone will never satisfy our thirsty souls.
7. Nowhere in the Bible does God condemn people for longing to be happy. People are condemned for forsaking God and seeking their happiness elsewhere (Jeremiah 2:13) - Sam Storms
8. Psalm 37:4 " Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."
9. You tell me how you spend your time and your money and I’ll tell you what you are seeking. You can say anything you like, you can come to church and look very religious, but your time and your money don’t lie. Time is life and money is nothing but the time it takes to make the money. Show me your calendar and your checkbook and I’ll know the truth about your priorities.
II. What should be first in your life?
A. People, possessions, power, prestige, pleasure, pastimes, and other pursuits compete for your priority. Unless we are careful, all of these things can easily and quickly knock God out of first place in our lives. We must actively choose to give Him first place in every area of life.
B. If we think of eternal life as a game of baseball, first base is having a relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you don't get to first, nothing else matters.
C. Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
D. R C Sproul says that " Seeking demands an intensity, a perseverance that will not be denied, and a zeal to achieve the desired objective."
E. It is a single minded focus that says I want Jesus as Lord in my life and to know and please God more than anything else.
F. J R Miller in his biography wrote, "We need have only one care, that we put the first thing first—faithfulness to God. Then all else we need for both worlds will be supplied. God will never fail us; but we forget, sometimes, in our rejoicing over such an assurance, that we must fulfill our part if we would claim the divine promise."
G. Psalm 34:8-10 " O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him. O fear the Lord, you his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."
H. When you desire God and decide to serve Him with your whole heart and make Him first in your life, spiritually you will prosper and your joy and peace will increase.
I. Psalm 144:15 " Happy are the people who are in such a state; happy are the people whose God is the Lord!"
J. If God is not first in your life then everything else is out of order.
K. Who is on first in your life?
