First Words 10-3-22

Focus On First

I John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us”. Occasionally, we need to remind ourselves that we are saved today, forgiven today, and blessed today because God loved us first. Before we knew God, trusted Him, accepted Him, loved Him or served Him…. He loved us. There has never been a time in our existence that God did not love us. When we were lost, living life without any thought of God…He loved us. When we were living wild and worldly…. He loved us! While we were doing what we shouldn’t have done and living like we shouldn’t have lived…He loved us! I say all that to say this: God still loves you! Regardless of what you’ve done or how you feel or what others say about you… God will never leave you or stop loving you. The question is: Have you left Him? Have the choices you have made taken you in a direction you never intended to go? Do you still love Him and honor Him with your life?

Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”. That is a tall order. Yet, God never asks us to do the undoable. Some would say that in today’s world, it is impossible to live a life that puts God first in everything. That’s not true. The best life… the most productive life…. the most influential life… the most blessed life, is the life lived with God first in everything. Listen, the hour is late. The coming of the Lord is so close. This is not the time to have one foot in the church and the other one in the world. Whatever it takes, whatever it costs--seek first the Kingdom of God… seek God’s Kingdom purpose in all we do… in our faith, family, and finances.

Revelation 2:4 says, “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against you, for you have left your first love”. Jesus said to the Church at Ephesus that something had changed in their relationship with Him. You no longer have the love for me that you once had. That radical, relentless and reckless love you had for me at first, is gone. It is possible for us to unintentionally become lukewarm and passive in our walk with God. We don’t read God’s Word like we once did. We don’t attend His Church as we once did. We pray and praise with less and less passion and persistence. Here is a question you and I must answer: If our children and grandchildren follow our example in walking with God, will they be on fire for God? May it not be said of us by the Lord: “I have somewhat against you for you have left your first love”.

Many things demand our attention, every day. Family and job responsibilities merit our attention. We are a busy people. If we put first what God says to put first, then everything else will fall in place.