"You shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock."--Deuteronomy 15:19. Moses, telling the Israelite people that the first of everything they have belongs to God.
The first. As a society, we are living in a "me first" kind of world. In the corporate world, people are trying to get to the top. In schools, many students are vying to be the top of their class. On any given game show and/or reality show, people are trying to get in a position of being first. Also in any given sports competition, people are trying to get first place such as in the most recent Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees series for the American League Divisional Series. The Yankees and Tigers were vying to be in first place but as most of us know, the Tigers won out and were first. Sorry to all you Yankees fans. This is simply the kind of society we live in.
The first. Given that we live in a world with a "me first" mindset, we have all but forgotten what God has to say on the subject and that is that God wants us to have a "me second and God first" kind of mindset. God wants to be the first in everything we do. And I do mean EVERYTHING. Just this week I spoke with my best friend Kenny and my other friend Rachel about the direction we are headed with our lives. These were two entirely separate conversations but what they both had in common was that both Kenny and Rachel talked about ending up where God wants us to end up even if it doesn't match up with where we want to end up. Keep that mindset Kenny and Rachel!!! This attitude is a great example of a "me second and God first" mindset. God wants to be the first every time whether it's in our career choices, the decisions we make on a daily basis and as we learn from Deuteronomy 15:19, God also wants to be the first in our life events and material gains.
The first. In Deuteronomy 15:19 Moses instructs the people to consecrate or to sanctify the first of all the Israelite people had whether it was their children or their animals. The first of anything is what we give the most attention to because of the value it carries. Think about it. How excited were you when you got your first car? How excited were you when you got your first job and that first paycheck? How about your first apartment or your first house? Or in the case of Deuteronomy 15:19, how about your first child? There is just something special about that first anything and it is that first anything for which God should be especially thanked.
The first. Now while today we are no longer required to take our first fruits to a temple to show it to some priest, God still expects us to give the first of everything back to Him. And He does expect the FIRST, not what is left over. Yes, at this point I am talking about our money. Too often we will get that paycheck and decide what bills we need to pay and how much we can play with before it even crosses our mind how much we need to give back to the Lord. We need to first think of how much we can give to the Lord and then think about our other things because the Lord comes first ALWAYS. Something I am still getting better at myself.
So my encouragement to you this morning is this. Whether it's with your life decisions or with your money, put God first by going to Him in prayer but also by taking a look at your budget. See if there is somewhere you can cut some corners so that you can give more to the Lord in your contribution this coming Sunday. My prayer is that we keep the "me second and God first" kind of attitude. If we do, everything else will begin to fall into place.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
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