GOD FIRST

As I walk through this life I endeavor to work on different aspects of my life to improve it. Lately, I have been thinking and working on “God first” in my life. I started thinking about this because I have been taught that God should be first in my life and I am reminded of that each time I pray (thank God) for the food that I am going to eat. Honestly, I could do a better job of praying before every meal. So, that is what got me to thinking about God being first.


As I walk through this life I endeavor to work on different aspects of my life to improve it. Lately, I have been thinking and working on “God first” in my life. I started thinking about this because I have been taught that God should be first in my life and I am reminded of that each time I pray (thank God) for the food that I am going to eat. Honestly, I could do a better job of praying before every meal. So, that is what got me to thinking about God being first.
In Genesis 1:1 it says “In the beginning GOD created.” The first verse in the first chapter of the first book on the Bible starts with God. You may say “so what”. Well, this is significant as you will see shortly. In Isaiah 41:4 it says “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last I am He. It should read “I the Lord, the first and the last”. In Isaiah 44:6 “Thus sayeth the Lord King of Israel (Yehovah melek yisra’el) and his (“his” is not in the text) redeemer, the Lord God of Hosts (Yehovah Tsaba’) I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no god.” There is no god but the God of the Bible and He was first.
“Thou shall not delay to offer the FIRST of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the first born of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep.” Exodus 22:29&30. The FIRST of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God.” Exodus 23:19. Look at Genesis 4:3-5. I want to show you how important it is to God that He is given the first fruits. “And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he, also, (“also” should be translated even) brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof, And the lord had respect unto Abel and his offering.” The difference between Cain and Abel’s offering is that Abel gave of his FIRST fruits! Where is God in your heart and in your mind is He God or is Christianity just another nice religion?
GOD FIRST!
Exodus 40:1&17 And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, On the first day of the first month thou shalt set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. And it came to pass in the first day of the first month in the second year ( the children of Israel were still in the land of Egypt on the first day of the first year)on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up.” Why the first day of the first month? Because it is the first day of the year. We are to honor God with the FIRST. WHY? Because he is God! God who created the heavens and the earth. He set the stars in their course. He made all of this so that His children could and would be blessed!
There is a record in I Kings 17:8-16 that I would like to share with you. Elijah, a man of God, told king Ahab that there would be no rain until Elijah said so. At first it wasn’t to bad. There was plenty of water but after a year or so everything and everybody were a little parched. So , Ahab sent his people out to find Elijah and the Bible says that there was no nation or kingdom that Ahab didn’t send men to find Elijah. But God hid Elijah during that time one of the places that God hid Elijah was in a widow woman’s house. This is extremely unorthodox because in that culture single men did not go into single women’s houses. “ And the word of the lord came unto him (Elijah) saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse, and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.(because of starvation) and Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou has said: but make me thereof a little cake FIRST, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and thy son. ( this is an amazing request. Five senses wise it can’t be done. There is only enough for one cake. But this widow woman was so disciplined that she put God FIRST by doing what he asked her to do. Did she know that there would be more meal and oil where that came from? NO! All she had was Elijah’s word) for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither the cruse of oil fail, until the day the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.” This is discipline, this is obedience, this is putting God FIRST.
After I read that I have no problem endeavoring to put God first in my life and in my daily walk. That means in every aspect from rising early to pray, to tithing, to asking God’s guidance, to praying and thanking God for my food.
If God is God then why should this be so foreign to us? Why should we be so concerned what people say if we carry a Bible or talk about God? Isn’t he GOD?
If you think that doing the things that I just mentioned are hard then look at Ezra 10:9-16. “then all of the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twelfth day of the month, and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do His pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from strange wives. Then all the Congregation said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do. But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work for one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appropriate times, and with them elders of every city and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned away from us. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. And the children of the captivity did so.” If you care to read further you will find out that there was a lot of men that had taken wives not of Israel (strange wives). Some of them even had children.
Put yourself in their position. I am sure those men loved their wives and their children just as much as men today love their wives and children. But they wanted to do what God wanted them to do. They wanted to put God FIRST. God didn’t put them in that fix. God told Israel not to marry strange women but these men got off track and had to get back on. I don’t know if I could do it and I am thankful that I don’t have to find out. This age is under a different administration.
We are no longer under the Mosaic Law. However we live by a higher standard. Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” What things? All the things that it talks about in the previous chapters, food, drink and clothing. You cannot out give God. Did you understand what I just said? You cannot out give God. I am not talking about the people in the pulpit trying to get your life savings. That’s not right. I’m talking about a cheerful giver that understands the immutable laws of God.
Romans 11:33-12:2 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him , and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever, Amen. I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that present yourselves a living sacrifice (not a dead sacrifice but a live one), holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed unto this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” This is what it means to put God first.