God Wants Our Firsts
God Wants Our Firsts
This week I walked out into the backyard and saw that the first peonies of the season had bloomed. They were breathtakingly beautiful and I was thrilled to see them. I could hardly wait to cut them and place them in budvases where I could admire them throughout my day. The plants had been green for a while. The buds had developed and I had been anticipating their opening. Today was the day and I was so excited. I began to pay attention to my thoughts. Over and over again, my inner thoughts were focused on the truth that these are the first blooms of the season. I was delighted. These first blooms made me smile. Then I realized, God wants our firsts. He wants our first thoughts, our first fruits and our first pleas for help. My delight over my peonies must be just an inkling of the delight God feels when He gets our firsts.
How can we give God our firsts?
What if we gave God our very first thoughts? Instead of sleeping to the last possible second, what if we set our alarm for just a few minutes earlier? What if we opened our eyes, shut off the alarm and began thanking God for all of our blessings? We could begin with “Thank you, God that I woke up this morning, the house is still quiet and I have this opportunity to thank You and praise You for all You have done.” We could take a few minutes and express our gratitude to our creator. What if we slid out of bed, grabbed our devotional and our Bible, started the coffee and sat quietly reading His word and desiring to know Him more. And when we are interrupted by others in our home, what if we invited them to join us on our journey to intimacy with our Savior? God wants our firsts. What if we gave them to Him?
What is we decided to bring God our very first fruits? In the Bible, God asked believers to bring their first crops to Him. What if we did that today? What if as soon as we received our income we brought our tithe to Him? That would mean tithing before we bought anything for ourselves or paid any of our bills. My pastor uses the wording “bring your tithe” because how can you give someone something that belongs to them anyway? God wants our firsts. What if we brought our firsts to Him? That would show that we trust Him to supply all of our needs. That would show that we desire to be obedient to Him. That would demonstrate that we choose to worship Him and who He is by bringing Him our firsts.
What if our first pleas for help were to God? Ever stopped to think about where we run to first when we have a question or a problem? If we are totally honest, we might have to answer “Google”. That is sad, but – oh – so - true. Think about how many times a crisis arises and we run to grab our phone. Our first plea for help goes to Momma or maybe to our best friend. We seek counsel and advice and answers from people who are just as flawed and damaged as we are. God wants our firsts. He wants to be our first cry for help, our first consideration for counsel, and our first application for answers. He IS our answer. He is our alpha and our omega – our first and our last. He is our all. When we have a need, what if we ran to Him first?
God wants our firsts. Oh, how delighted He must be when He receives our first thoughts, our first fruits and our first pleas for help. Today, let’s ask for forgiveness for putting so many things before Him. Let’s encourage one another to stop the madness and simply seek Him first.
Jesus said…
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:31-34
Lord, I want to bring you my first thoughts, my first fruits and my first pleas for help. Help me, Jesus. Please help me seek You first.
What do you do to give God your firsts? Share with us and let's all encourage one another.
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