I hear countless times about the need to Put God First in our lives. It becomes a cliche somewhat and after a while, when i hear it, it becomes of no effect. I hear so much of it that i don't even question the fact that we need to put God first. It's like a McDonals ad where it keeps bombarding people on the media. It's so effective that even though i might initially don't have a preference for McDonalds (the fries are too salty, the pattis not that fantastic, the bread abit plain), i have come to treat McDonalds like a friend because of all the hype about it. Even though i don't know what exactly is so great about it, but it's become my friend. So so what? Whenever i'm in need of a drink of a snack and an outlet is nearby, i just head to it without hesitation over other fast food outlets. It's similar to the phrase "Putting God First". It becomes your friend coz you hear so much of it. But the problem is, do you really understand what it means to Put God First? Do you really know what's so great about McDonalds?
Being the inquisitive sort, i found a new challenge and that is to find out what it really means. First, i decided to put my work last to pursue this new challenge.(hopefully my boss doesn't see what i'm doing) Second, i began to think how exactly i Put God First in my own life. What came to mind was Obedience to God. But what does that mean? It means being who God wants you to be.(And, i just realised i'm doing circular thinking) Third, i started to search online for answers.
Putting God First:
1) Regular Devotional time with God. This includes reading the Bible, prayer and meditation on His word. You can get up 15 mins earlier for this purpose. For me right now, i've been getting up at 7am so i can have a quiet time of about 20-25 mins before i head to the bathroom. I've been memorizing some bible verses so part of my devotional time is in meditation on those verses. You can also have a nightly devotional time too before you sleep. Make sure you end your day earlier so you can have those minutes of quality time.
2) Communicate with God throughout the day. God loves us and He always wants to communicate with us in some way, any way. And whenever we turn our attention to Him, He drops everything He's doing and listens. A bad monday morning at work? Talk to God about it, complain, ask for strength or if you can even, give thanks. Facing a crossroad and you don't know what to do? Seek God for advice. Tell Him about the possible options and ask for wisdom. Having a happy time? Don't forget God! God wants to be a part of the fun too! Thank Him for allowing you to experience a happy time.
3) Serve in ministry/ies in church. In an environment where nearly everyone believes in God, it's where you can work together in daily church activities. And it's not just the act of serving, but the effort you put inside that matters too. Give not only quality time but quality results as you serve. If you're in charge of taking video for the whole worship service, do it well. Remember that what your viewers ultimately see is in your control! Represent the sermon well. Keep the speaker always in your camera screen. In charge of the PA? Make sure to turn on the mic when someone wants to use it otherwise he will keep testing 123. Focus your attention on what you're doing and do it well. Even if people come and talk to you, don't let it distract you from what you're doing. But if you find that you're ignoring a great deal of people because of the many ministries you're in, then you might want to change that by re-arranging your priorities.
4) Serve others. "Husbands and wives can listen to each other. Parents and children can be attentive to one another. God cares about how we are with each other." God feels hurt when we treat someone else with disrespect or if we have fights because He knows that things doesn't have to be this way. Have a car? Help transport people home sometimes becauase they live far away and it's late. Have money? Donate to charity knowing that it'll help someone or donate to someone you know in need of it like if they need to fund their studies. Be kind to people. Say nice things and compliment them to lift up their spirits. God loves it if people are happy. See litter in the church sanctuary? Pick it up and get rid of it. See the aircon and lights not off when everyone's not needing the room? Turn them off. See the tap running in the toilet? Turn it tight or go down and turn the valve off.
5) Serve yourself. Plan to take care of yourself. It makes sense that if you want to serve well in any way, that you need a good body and mind. Just as we set aside time for people and God, we must also set quality time off for ourselves to eat and rest. It's not healthy to sacrifice sleep and food even though you may be doing church work. God wants you to be healthy, happy people. So you need to eat well and rest well so you can be fit enough to continue the first 4 points above with the right attitude.
In conclusion, the "Putting God First" principle is summed up this way:
Matt 22:37-40. Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.(NKJ)
Now if you excuse me, i need to put my work first.
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