Priority One: JESUS

    

   What's the first thing you do when you open your eyes from sleep each morning; before your feet hit the floor and the demands of the day take control of your thoughts?  Do you thank JESUS for the night's rest and the new day?  I've never been much of a morning person but I've been trying to make a conscious effort to give JESUS my first thought every morning.  It is a work in progress.... 

Consider Matthew 6:31-34

Therefore take no thought, saying, 

What shall we eat? or, 

What shall we drink? or, 

Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

( For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: ) 

for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, 

and His righteousness; 

and all these things shall be added unto you.

     These verses are part of a sermon Jesus preached to His followers during His earthly ministry.  His message is as needful today as it was 2,000 or more years ago.  It's all about JESUS being in the place He deserves, which is ahead of everything else, as Priority One.

     To understand more of what Jesus is teaching consider the preceding verses, in particular verses 24-30.  The clear truth is that we cannot serve the Master of the universe and the master of material possessions.  We are told to take a lesson from the birds and the lilies.  Neither of God's creations worry about buying and storing food or provisions nor how they look to others.  God has placed within all His created beings the need to depend on Him to sustain their life.  Birds and lilies exhibit total dependence on the One that created them.  Of all the created beings, only humans feel the need to deny their dependence on His glorious care.  It's simple logic that if God shows such great care for birds and lilies, how much more care will He bestow on His dear children!

     God, in His infinite wisdom and love, gave humans something He did not give the birds and lilies ~ the capacity and freedom to make good, as well as bad, choices. Because all of our choices have consequences, the very first good choice a person should make is to accept the free gift of salvation by the blood of Jesus.  This choice ensures that we can please the Lord with our service, as well as have an eternal home in heaven with our Lord and Savior.  Once saved, the child of God does not lose the capacity nor the freedom to make good and bad choices.  The choices we make do not take away the salvation of our soul; however, they do affect our relationship with our heavenly Father.  As a child of God, it is important to ask ourselves:  

Is God the Master of my universe? 

 Do I give Him complete control of my life?

  

Are my decisions based on His will and not mine? 

Is Jesus my priority?   

     Remember, God leads His children in a path that is in our best interest and for our good.   Making a conscious effort to be grateful for all the blessings He gives, reading His Word daily and praying to Him about every decision and choice we make will help us keep JESUS as Priority One in our lives.

~Blessings, Pamelyn