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Mar 08, 2022 18:30pm

Who Is Most Important?

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I love schedules and plans. I love making out my to-do list for the day. There’s a certain feeling of accomplishment of checking those things off the list throughout the day and at the end, seeing it all completed.

What if we made a list of everything we do in a day? What would be on it? How much of it would be about us? How much of it would be for others? Out of all the items on the list, who is the main focus of the attention?

Unfortunately, the answer would probably be me.

Even before 8 AM, I can be guilty of doing a lot of “me-centered” things. You? By the end of the day, I’ve accomplished a great deal, but the majority of it was for my benefit.

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-3)

Through Moses, God tells the people to be sanctified, set apart for Him. He gives them instructions on what to do and not to do and the people commit to obey Him. He descends upon Mt. Sinai and invites Moses to come up to meet with Him.

First of all, that’s awesome! God invited Moses to meet with Him! The Holy of Holies! The Great and Mighty God! The Creator of the Earth, life and Heaven! The Alpha and Omega! Wow! Can you imagine?

On the mountain, God begins to give Moses the law that he will then instruct the people to follow. We know this as the 10 commandments. These are a set of laws designed to help the Israelites know what was right in God’s eyes and not their own.

He starts with something foreign to the Israelites. The first commandment tells them they are not to have other gods before God. Remember, they just came out of Egypt. They had been there for 400 years. The Egyptians worshiped many gods for each aspect of their life. So, they were accustomed to this way of worship. They had no problem with believing in God. They just added Him to their list of other gods of their life. But when He said “no other gods before Me”, that was a whole different ball game.

That meant He was first. That meant He was above all others. That meant He was greater than others. That was a hard concept for them to accept. But this was the first step in their commitment to following Him.

So where does God rank on that to-do list we are making today? We say He’s first, but is He? You may not realize the other gods you serve, but if anything takes priority above God, it’s an idol. Work, sports, phone, money…there are tons of things that are of this world that if we aren’t careful, we can be guilty of worshiping.

What needs to be rearranged on that schedule for you to make time for God…who we say is the most important?

Is there not enough time in the day? God gave us the perfect amount of time to do what we are commanded to do. It’s up to us to prioritize our schedules to make sure He is not only at the top, but His presence is woven in everything we do. When I get ready, am I doing it to show off or is it pleasing to the Lord. When I have coffee with my husband before work, are we lifting others up or tearing them down? When I go to work, am I a reflection of Jesus, or do I look and talk like this world? When I make plans for the evening or the weekend, is it something I would be ashamed for Jesus to see me do? Do I make it a priority to worship Him not only on Sunday mornings, but throughout the week in my daily life?

Tough questions. Are we failing? What can we do to be better today?

Surrender. Pray to the Father to restructure your life in such a way that is pleasing to Him and furthering His kingdom. I’ll be honest, sometimes that’s painful. God has to come first.

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” (Luke 14:26-28)