Who is on first?

It was hard to narrow down a subject for this Sabbath note as so many had presented themselves throughout the week. It was an interesting we as people’s trials ramp up as they do in the fall and around the world Satan is hard at work controlling and manipulating things. Sometimes it can be very discouraging to even get out of bed let alone live your life.

One statement that was put forth by Aiden Tozer many years ago was mentioned this week and it sums up basically the whole relationship between problems solutions and outlook in our lives.

The statement is: Everything in our lives is dictated by one thing. The opinion we have of God and his importance in our lives.

I am not sure if he said it exactly that way but the emphasis is there. How important is God to us? His ways, his truth, his mercy, his love?

Do we fulfill the first 2 of the Ten Commandments in our hearts and minds? Or do we still put other things and loves ahead of him.

Many Christians will profess to love God but live different lives. Its them that becomes first and God must meet things the way they see them or he takes an adversarial role.

A woman I used to know blamed God for hiding her cane all the time. Laughing about it as if it were a game. While her telling of this was amusing it reduced God to the level of a troublesome spirit and not the supreme being he is over all.

To really put God first in our lives means submission. Not submission to a person or a person who thinks they speak for God, but truly to God himself through his Son. We do this by as Romans 12 says Present yourselves as a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God.

This means His will over yours, His way over what you want. Even when the result is far from what you wanted.

You submit to Him because you believe he and Jesus Christ are who they say they are and you know this in your heart and mind and act accordingly.

Imagine if we had a government that functioned that way. Or a marriage where both people felt that way. Even a friendship. That doing what God wants was more important than what the carnal self interest desires were saying to them.

It is what is required of us to be a Christian, not just merely saying we are and living life according to our lusts and desires. Or even worse making a false God to worship that fits our interests. Such a God is denying the true God and still is sinful. I often think how those who do so will react when they are standing in front of Him for the first time.

All things we do in this life there is no other question that should be more important to us as the one that asks how important God is to us and are we changing our lives because of it. The changes we make may not be outwardly pleasing to those in the world but to God is is a true sign we love him more than anything else in this life.

Happy Sabbath!

Your brother in Christ,

Steve Koenig