Jesus Comes FIRST!

“O GOD, You are my God;

Earnestly will I seek You” (Ps63:1).

If you’re like me, you can get so busy serving Him that you forget to LOVE Him! Long ago, I committed everything I do and everything I have to Him. But there are different warnings in the Word about getting too involved with the “cares of this life” that you end up neglecting the most important things, such as the Word, spending time in prayer and listening to Jesus.

God appreciates the service we offer Him and He needs it, but He wants our attention and adoration and intimate communication too! “This you should have done, and not to have left the other undone.”–Matthew 23:23.

There’s a little story hidden in Luke 10, about when Jesus went to visit Mary and Martha. It says that Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His Word. But Martha was cumbered about with much serving.”–She was so weighted down, so busy rushing around trying to get everything done just right FOR the Lord, that she didn’t have time to listen TO the Lord! So Jesus gently chided her and said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things! But ONE thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that GOOD part, which shall not be taken away from her!”–Lk 10:39-42.

Although our service of witnessing and winning others to Jesus is very important, the time we spend with Jesus is even MORE important, and if we take that time alone with Him, we’ll find that surprisingly we’ll have ample time for all the other things we need to do, and we’ll be able to get them done even faster in a shorter amount of time.

There’s a story about Martin Luther when he and his co worker Melancthon had a particularly strenuous and busy day ahead, Melancthon suggested that they cut their prayer time together at the beginning of the day in half. Luther refused vehemently, and insisted that instead of their regular 2 hours in prayer, they would today have to spend 4 hours in the presence of the Lord because they had so MUCH to do! WOW, that’s convicting. But how true. When you realize that all you receive, all good gifts come from the Father, then, He’s really the One blessing our every effort. So why even consider self effort?

It reminds me of the story of the bedroom slippers. The little girl knew that her father’s birthday was coming up in a few months, and because she had learned to knit, she started to spend time every night after school in her room, knitting bedroom slippers for her dad. Weeks went by and months went by, and finally came the birthday and the little girl offered those slippers that she’d spent so much time working on for her father. And when the father opened the present, he cried in appreciation of course. But he set the little girl on his need and said, “my, those are beautiful, and God knows I needed them, but I have missed our time together every evening so much, it’s as though I haven’t seen you for a number of months, and while I’m so thankful for the slippers, I would have much rather have you.”.

To neglect our fellowship with the King of kings can be disastrous to our spiritual life and walk with the Lord! God will NOT take second place, even to His service! “Thou shalt have NO other gods before Me!”–Exodus 20:3.--And believe it or not, if you put ANYTHING else BEFORE the Lord, it has become your GOD!

So putting Jesus first place in our lives not only involves putting His service first in winning hearts and lives to Him, but also putting His WORD first in our lives! In fact, the Bible says that Jesus is the Word! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was made flesh.”–John 1:1,14. What’s more, Jesus said, “The WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE”!–John 6:63.

God’s Word is food for our soul, and it’s absolutely essential to our spiritual GROWTH! If we don’t take time to feast on Jesus’ Word, then our soul’s going to literally starve! We’ll end up like a malnourished child or a spiritual dwarf!–And even our service to God will become powerless and fruitless. We can’t do the Master’s work without the Master’s power and direction.

How many times have we rushed into the day, or not even in working, but in our thoughts and instead of bringing our concerns to the Lord, we start worrying and planning, all without even stopping and asking God. And then we wonder why things just won’t go right!

When you first wake up, get your orders from HIM for the day! Otherwise you’re going to be like a soldier who’s trying to fight a war all on his own without listening to headquarters, with no organisation from his Commander-in-Chief! Our Heavenly Commander, Jesus, can solve a lot of your problems before the day even begins if you put HIM first and have PRAYER and listen to what He has to say through His Word!

Without a good daily dose of the WORD and PRAYER, you’ll walk around unempowered, stumbling about in your OWN wisdom and strength. Jesus says, “Without ME ye can do NOTHING”.–John 15:5. But on the other hand, the Bible says, “I can do ALL THINGS through CHRIST which strengtheneth me!”–Philippians 4:13. That strength comes only through putting JESUS FIRST, through PRAYER and the reading of God’s WORD!

So let’s give Jesus and His Word FIRST PLACE. If not, our whole life will be thrown out of balance, and the result will only be disharmony, disruption and confusion! There’s “Only ONE life, ’twill SOON be PAST!–Only what’s done for CHRIST will LAST”! Let JESUS be your FIRST LOVE and always KEEP Him in that place! You’ll NEVER lose by SEEKING FIRST the Kingdom!

In closing I want to share a poem written by an evangelist who had a daily radio devotional in the ’50s, Virginia Brandt Berg, which has always touched me deeply..

 

First Place 

     I was longing to serve the Master,

But alas, I was laid aside

     From the busy field of workers

     In the harvest field so wide.

     They were few, yes, few in number,

     And I could not understand

     Why I should be left inactive;

     It was not as I had planned.

 

     I was longing to serve the Master,

     And the need indeed was great.

     For me it was easy to labor,

     But oh, it was hard to wait,

     To lie quite still and be silent,

     While the song was borne to my ear,

     From the busy field of workers,

     In the harvest field so dear!

     I was longing to serve, just to serve the Master,

     But He led to a desert place,

     And there as we stopped and rested,

     His eyes looked down in my face.

     So full of tender reproaching,

     They filled me with sad surprise!

     Did He think I had grudged my service,

     Or counted it sacrifice?

     “Oh, Master, I long to serve, just to serve Thee!

     There are so few at the best.

     Let me off to the fields,” I pleaded.

     “I care not to stay and rest!”

     I knelt at His feet imploring,

     I gazed in His face above.

     “My child,” He said, “don’t you know

     Your service is nothing without your love?”

     I was longing to serve, to serve my Master,

     Oh, this was my one fond thought.

     For this I was ever pleading,

     As His footstool in prayer I sought.

     But there in that lonely desert,

     Apart from the busy scene,

     It dawned on me slowly and clearly

     Where my great mistake had been.

     My mind was so full of service, just service,

     I had drifted from Him apart.

     And He longed for that sweet communion,

     The union of heart with heart!

     Well, I sought and I found forgiveness,

     While mine eyes with pain were dim.

     And now, though His work is still precious,

     The first place is kept for Him!

      –Virginia Brandt Berg (1885-1968)

 . . . . .

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing“. (Jn15:5)

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mat 10:37-39)

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Pro 3:1-35)

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” (Ps 1:1-3:8)