But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
Luke 4:8
Who’s on first?
Life can feel really cluttered and busy sometimes, can’t it? It’s easy to rush through life without thinking about God or taking time to connect with Him. Family, friends, career, and life, in general, can keep us very busy and distracted and make it difficult to cultivate our relationship with the Lord.
The Lord is still with us when we are busy. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Ever. But it can be really hard to hear Him in the busyness, and we can easily get caught up in our emotions when we aren’t taking the time we need to steady ourselves in His Word.
To me, putting God first begins with remembering Him. Remembering that He exists, that He is God, and that He wants to know me personally and allows me to know Him personally. Like any relationship, we need to spend time with Him in order to deepen our walk and closeness with Him. We will never know Him as deeply and intimately as we can if we don’t seek Him or spend time with Him.
I need to spend time with Him, talk to Him, and listen to Him through His Word and His Spirit in my heart. Doing any of these things consistently will begin to deepen our walk with Him and our understanding of Him. Putting Him first also means obeying Him and walking in the way that He walked. Our lives will reflect Him more and more as we draw closer to Him and practice what He tells us to do. Our time with Him and our attentiveness to His Word will begin to affect our lives and interactions.
What’s on second?
If God comes first, then what needs to be bumped to second or third places in our lives? Some things may even need to be cut out of our lives entirely if they conflict with our relationship with Him (because, after all, He is God and is number one in our lives).
I’ve definitely put things before the Lord in the past, and still do it sometimes. Relationships, work I do for clients, and other activities periodically steal my focus far more than they should. When I start consistently neglecting time with the Lord in favor of something else, I know that this other thing has stolen my focus and bumped God out of His #1 spot in my life.
Remembering God daily and seeking Him first and early helps us draw closer to Him. I don’t do this perfectly every day and definitely have my seasons where I struggle to focus on my relationship with Him. But when I consistently set aside time to invest in knowing Him more, I grow closer to Him and He draws closer to me.
Challenge/Takeaway Action: Think about what is in first place in your life right now. Is it work? Is it school? Is it a relationship or a spouse? Those are all great things where we can invest our time in meaningful ways. But how are you focusing on the Lord to cultivate and grow in your relationship with Him? What needs to be bumped to second place after Him? Think of two ways you can spend more time with Him this week and rest in His presence and draw from His Word. We often think we don’t have time to do this, but when we do, it helps everything fall into their rightful places.
Note: Spiritual disciplines like prayer and Bible reading are not (Repeat. Are Not.) a way to earn salvation or more of God’s love. God already loves us. We are already saved through faith in Jesus. Spiritual disciplines are simply a way to grow and strengthen our relationship with God. Much like going to the gym to exercise our physical muscles, spiritual disciplines exercise our spiritual muscles. They help us to be more in tune with His Spirit and to be stronger spiritually, which enables us to live more in accordance with His desires for us and to honor Him more. Give yourself some grace (God is giving you way more than you’re probably giving yourself) as you add in some spiritual exercises this week. It’s about growth, not about perfection.
