One of the phrases I have always heard repeated often by pastors, preachers and teachers of the Bible has been that we must always put God first in our lives; yet none of them actually took the time to explain exactly what that means or how to accomplish it.
So most of my life I have always assumed that putting God first meant strictly in the realm of financial tithes and offerings, never really expanding my understanding of that area, until recently when I was enlightened to the fact that putting the Lord first means much more than the ten-percent tithe… in-fact putting God first is something that can be applied to every area of our lives.
As an example; I take time to pray when I first wake up; which is not really a new thing for me… but what is new is that I have been “inviting” God into the day I am about to start; asking Him to help me accomplish what He wants me to accomplish this day, and to also help me to not worry about my own plans, since my own plans are not important; all that is really important are His plans and mine should rightly take a back seat to His will.
The interesting thing about this is that as I have been praying this in the morning, I have accomplished more in those days than when I did not do this. Not only do I accomplish everything He wants me to, but also most of what I had planned as well. And the plans of mine that I have not been able to complete, I have mostly come to see that it was better for me that they were delayed or cancelled. So even in what appeared to be a failure, the Lord has shown His mercy and love to me, and I thank Him for it.
So the lesson I have been learning the last few days has been to never neglect to put Him first; to invite Him into each day, and to also remember that it is indeed His plans that are paramount and what I consider important for that day may actually not be important at all; as His will for the day unfolds. I must admit that is sometimes difficult for me to remember or keep in mind that the Lord does indeed see beyond my very limited view of the present and near future, and while His plan may not be readily apparent, it eventually does get revealed, and more often than not I end up apologizing to Him for not trusting Him more or having more faith.
For me, my challenge has been to trust in His divine plan, not just distantly, but for each and every day; to not get caught up in the circumstances of the moment but to stay in His peace throughout. I also pray that all of us can better stay connected to Him, since He is our ultimate source of everything and to trust in Him more, each and every day.
The more we can do this, the more we will see the words of Proverbs 3:5-6 manifest in our lives, which states the following:
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
The more that we can stay connected to Him and truly put Him first in our lives, the more He can take charge of our lives and direct us according to His purpose and plan. The more we release to Him, the more He can work in and through us and the more our lives will stop weighing u down because we will no longer be carrying the burden, but He will, and He is more than string enough to carry us.
Let us all stay connected to Him and receive all of the power and blessing that He offers us as we put Him first in all areas of our life and make Him truly as His title suggests, our Lord Jesus.
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