Articles
Is God First in Your Life?
Jesus said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). Why should we put God first in our lives?
Because God is the supreme creator of all things. Man, and the universe are God's creation. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth...And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...So God created man in his own image" (Genesis 1:1, 26, 27). "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1). Since God created us: 1) He is greater than us; 2) we belong to Him; 3) therefore, He has the right to be first in our lives.
Because God has always demanded to be first. From the very beginning of time, God has demanded of man to obey Him. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 1:16-17). God expected Adam to put Him first, that is, do what God commanded him to.
God gave Israel a law that demanded of them to put Him first in their lives, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:2). Jesus is simply saying that the law of God has always been and always will be, "seek ye first...God".
Because God loved us first. "We love him, because he first loved us" (I John 4:19). The apostle Paul explains this a little further, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6-8). God should be first in our lives because he loved us when we did not deserve to be loved.
Because God is our Saviour. "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy 2:3-4). "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The disciples of Christ asked, "Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:25-26).
How do we put God first in our lives? Jesus answers, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment" (Mark 12:29).
Friend, if we want to be saved, that is, go to heaven one day, we must put God first in our lives! Are you?
