The Number One Priority

Life in Jesus is not difficult to understand, but at times can be very difficult to live out. Deuteronomy 10:12-13 gives us a snap shot; the crux of this life:

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good…”

Life in Jesus is an issue of priority. The very first of the Ten Commandments is “You shall have no other gods before Me.” That’s it! There is a reason that one is first! God is our number one priority in everything that we do, say, see, or think. Jesus summed up the entire Bible by saying in Matthew 22:37-40, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

This is not a difficult concept to understand. If we love God with all that we are and with all that we have, then everything in life will fall into its proper place. The difficulty in this that we must learn to deny ourselves! It is sinful human nature that causes us to want to please ourselves in all things instead of God! God is holy—simply put, that means He is pure, whole, and integrated in all aspects. He desires us to be holy as He is holy. This means that He must become our highest priority in everything of life, and when we place Him at the top of everything, then everything will begin to look like Him: our children, our jobs, our homes, our thoughts, and our emotions will come under His control and His abundant life. This may seem like an impossibility, and humanly speaking it is—but that is why God has given us His Holy Spirit—so we can be holy as He is holy!

I want to encourage you today to, once again, submit every part of your life to Jesus. An easy thing to do is once a day, take a few moments alone and bow before the Lord. Worship Him. Talk to Him. Listen to Him. Draw off of the life and strength that He so freely offers to us. In Jesus Christ, God has made it possible for us to be like Him and experience His life in our lives! The key is to make Him the number one priority!

Blessings!

Pastor Kyle Bauer