Number One, we’ve just begun, God should be first in your life, or at least that’s how the old song went from my first grade class’s spring production. It was a lofty musical, let me assure you, and yes, the one song that sticks with me to this day is the one dedicated to those rolling-rhyming Ten Commandments.
This weekend at Cape Bible Chapel, we began as that song began all those years ago, and as things should strive to begin: with good old number one.
“You shall have no other gods before me,” is how this familiar number one goes.
And with that single line, all of us became sinners.
Honestly, how often do you put things before God? Bad things like pride and self and lusts of the flesh and even good things like family and friends and sports and music and on and on and on. We’ll put just about anything possible before God if we get the chance; there is just something in us that rebels against number one.
In the weekend services, we took a glimpse at some common gods in our lives.
First on the list was our money. Similar to capturing a bank robber, we can see the order of our own heart simply by following the money. Receipts, shopping bags, and credit card bills all bear witness to the treasures of our hearts and sadly the tale they tell is often one of grave idolatry. We, it seems, aim to spend and save God right out of our lives.
Our interests are another consideration. What comes to mind in the quiet recesses of the night? What do you wake up for? Is it work? Exercise? Cardinal baseball? Antiquing? Scuba Diving? Really, it can be anything and often it is something seemingly “good.” But what we are prone to do is take out an “o” and turn what can be “good” into a “god.” Oh, it doesn’t take much either to plunge some hobby into waters it has no business occupying. We must diligently take note of what desires we keep, and, perhaps more importantly, where we keep them in the queue of our hearts.
Third comes relationships. Again, it isn’t that relationships are evil, it is that we make them evil through distorting them. We are willing to divorce God, thinking this might save our marriages. Family. Friends. Pets. It matters not, just as long as we put something above our Heavenly Father. In fact, “Father” seems almost too close for the place we often save for the Lord. Perhaps, Heavenly Uncle or Eternal Acquaintance become more apt names for God; in my own life, these monikers too often suffice.
And we throw in our schedules and our troubles into the mix. Let me take care of this and then I’ll do the whole God thing, I’ve shamefully thought far too many times. If I can work this issue out then I’ll get serious with the Lord, my marching orders read.
On each day, at each moment, I need to return to the old song from my youth: Number one, we just begun, God should be first in MY life. And it isn’t just that this mindset and way of life will have everything fall into place. Far better than that, this worldview and heart cry will have each thing fall into the place God has ordained for it.
If you find a moment today, check out the following Scripture and allow the following Scripture to check your heart:
Deuteronomy 5:6-7
I Corinthians 10:31
I Corinthians 15:33
Ephesians 5:16-17
Psalm 50:15
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