Mediation Monday: When God Is First

Good morning! Yesterday I introduced the idea of "Meditation Monday." This week, I’m going over some notes I took from my Pastor’s sermon from a few months ago. It’s titled “When God is First.” Here we go.

The Bible is pretty clear: God should be first in our lives.

Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

It’s really easy to set God aside and let other things come before him. “Other things” aren’t necessarily bad things—they can be good things: reading, spending time with friends, exercising, crafting… you get the gist. Are these bad things? No! But should our hobbies take first place over God? Again, NO!

I know I personally struggle with this. I love reading. Editing photos. Scrolling Facebook (which could, at times, totally border on the good-not-good line). Hanging out with friends. Cooking. It’s not that these are bad things to do with my time. It’s just that I shouldn’t let them be a reason why I “can’t” spend time with God. On more than one occasion, I’ve not done my daily Bible reading because I stayed up too late spending time with friends. Or I chose to read a YA book instead of my Bible. Chose to watch a movie instead of pray. Chose to sleep in instead of pray. (That last one is a big struggle for me.)

In order to evaluate your priorities, here are three things to track in your life:

1. Time 

Where do you spend your time? Are you using it? Wasting it? Once upon a time I read (parts of) a book called 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. The book made me rethink what I was doing with my time and encouraged me to track my time to see what exactly I was doing with all my time. So a few years ago, I spent a week tracking my time. It was a wake up call to see what I was actually spending my time doing. (Also, I was incredibly bummed by how much time I spend commuting—I’d have so much more time if I could teleport!)

We spend our time on things that are important and things we love. (And work, which—if you’re blessed—you’ll love!) If I want God to be the most important part of my life, I MUST spend time with Him.

2. Talent/Giftings 

Romance 12:6-11 talks about the different giftings and talents we can have. We must be sure that we are using our gifts to glorify and bring honor to God. If we aren’t careful, we’ll use our giftings only for things of the earth.

God gave us each unique talents so we could use them to glorify him. It has always baffled me that He gave everyone a gift to use for him, but he doesn’t take those gifts away when we choose to use them for another purpose. Think about how many amazing singers and songwriters there are who choose to sing to glorify themselves or the sin of this world. Then think about how much they could be doing for the kingdom of God were they to use their talents for Him!

Ask yourself this: If someone sees you using your gifts, will they see Jesus?

3. Treasure  

Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Our heart is where we put our money. I just finished my budget for the month, so I know this to be true. I always put way less in my savings for doctor visits and car repairs than I do for my house and mission trips funds.  I WANT to fund the things that are most important to me.

But before I do anything else, I make sure I’ve set aside my tithes and offerings. These come FIRST. I am okay with adding to these numbers, but I will not take away God’s money to put it in another place. Tithing is biblical and non-negotiable.

Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.

The word holy there (kodesh) also means separate or set apart. Your tithe should be separated and given to God.

Pastor pointed out a story in the Bible that I’ve heard and read a million times and never realized it was about giving of your first fruits.

Genesis 4:3-5 And in 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 brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.

I’d never even looked at how these scriptures were worded, but it only says that Abel brought the first of his flock. It just says that Cain “brought of the fruit.” I think there should be a “first” in there somewhere.  We must give God what belongs to Him—especially since He’s required it of us!

Application: 

This week, I memorized Colossians 3:2 and 17. I've included these verses in my prayers, that God will help me to set my affections on things above and help me remember that everything I do, I need to do for Him.

Time: I've been trying to reevaluate my time lately (looks like it's time to track my time again!) because I want to make sure I'm using it to the fullest and not wasting time on things that are unimportant or irrelevant. But I'm also making sure I take the time to take care of myself! As much as I enjoy pouring myself into kids' ministry at church and hanging out with friends, I know it's important to set aside some fun and relaxing "me" time. The struggle is to make sure I set my time aside for God before I set it aside for me!

Talent: The Lord has blessed me with many talents and giftings, and I'm still working to learn how to apply them in my life so they glorify and honor Him. I work in kids' min, so I get to use a lot of gifts there: creativity, writing, worship. That's one reason I love kids' min—there are so many aspects to it!

Treasure: I continuously pray that the Lord will give me wisdom to make wise financial choices that will bless Him and benefit me. The Bible says in James 1:5 that if we ask for wisdom, He will give it to us. I'm believing that!