Learning to Put God First
Most of us tend to lead such busy lives, with work, family commitments, and other activities taking up a big chunk of our days. With all that is going on, are you still remembering to put God first? Stephanie Nickel challenges us to commit to Him, and together learn and remember to put God first in our lives.
The Triumphal Entry
Matthew 21:1-5 is a well-known passage referred to as “the triumphal entry.” This passage says,
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord needs them,” and he will send them at once.’ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, ”Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”’
Matthew 21:1-5
I was sitting at my desk thinking about how to approach this passage and then it came to me. I want to challenge you with the same challenge I encountered when reading the longer passage, the first eleven verses of Matthew 21.
Jesus Faces Crucifixion
But first, let’s talk about what was happening. Jesus and His disciples were nearing Jerusalem, where the Lord had said He would be tortured and put to death. Although fully God, Jesus Christ was also fully human. I don’t think most—if any—of us can imagine what He was thinking and feeling.
Before you say to yourself, “But Jesus was God,” I want to remind you of Hebrews 4:15, which says,
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin
Hebrews 4:15
I have obsessed over things infinitely less overwhelming than the thought of facing crucifixion. In fact, nothing I’ve experienced has come anywhere close.
They Praised Him, Then Ignored Him
The people treated the Lord like the king He was. They lined the streets and paid Him homage. For a little while, Jesus was honoured as He should have been.
They seemed to ignore the fact that He entered their community on a young donkey. A conquering king should have, by rights, entered on a noble horse of the finest breeding. The crowds looked past all that. After all, they couldn’t wait to shake off the bondage of Roman oppression. They were caught up in the excitement and I can understand why.
But who knows? It may have been just a short time later that some of these same worshipers were among another crowd, one that cried out, “Crucify Him!”
Fickle. Turncoats. Despicable.
Examining Our Own Lives
Those titles may apply to several who praised Jesus one moment and turned against Him the next. But before we become proud and say we’d never do the same, we should examine our own lives. At least I know I have to examine mine.
Remember what I said earlier about a challenge? Let me explain—and confess.
Over the years, I have gotten caught up in the excitement of praising and worshiping the Saviour. This has happened often.
A speaker’s message revealed a biblical truth I hadn’t considered. A song reassured me of God’s great love, compassion, and patience. An author’s words examined something I knew but from a fresh perspective, making the truth new all over again. I could give you several specific examples, but I’m sure you get the idea.
Promising To Put God First
The result has often been a renewed energy and excitement. I’ve promised to once again dig into God’s Word regularly in order to rediscover familiar truths I hadn’t been thinking about. I’ve asked for forgiveness and recommitted myself to being more spiritually disciplined.
And then …
I’ve blown it. Though I place “Bible Study and Prayer” at the top of my daily To Do list, I allow other things to take priority. They aren’t necessarily bad things, but they aren’t the most important things either.
Through studying God’s Word, spending time with Him in prayer, singing songs of praise to Him, I acknowledge Him as King of my life.
When I say, “I’ll get around to it after I check Facebook, after I get home from work, after I watch this TV show,” although I’m not crying, “Crucify Him!” I am still relegating my time with Him to one of less importance.
Learning To Put God First
I am challenging myself by sharing these thoughts with you. I don’t want to be hypocritical. I want to be accountable. I don’t want to encourage you to give God the #1 place in your life and then go back to business as usual.
Let’s commit to this together. Let’s put God first in our lives. Let’s commit each day, each project, each endeavour to Him. Let’s worship Him as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Let’s draw near to Him and trust His promise to draw near to us as it says in James 4:8.
How do you put God first in your life? Contact us at HopeStreamRadio, or comment below.
Steph Nickel
Steph Beth Nickel is eclectically interested and eclectically involved. In all she does, Steph seeks to nurture and inspire. She is currently working on the first book in a nonfiction series. Nurture and Inspire LOVE is a compilation of the first devotionals she wrote for HopeStreamRadio.
Steph is a freelance writer and editor. She is the coauthor of Paralympian Deb Willows’ award-winning memoir, Living Beyond My Circumstances, published by Castle Quay Books. Deb and Steph are working on a follow-up book.
You can visit her website, stephbethnickel.com, to learn more about her.
Visit Steph’s contributor’s page or at Steph Nickel’s Eclectic Interests.
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