Am I Putting God First?

‘If my mind is not settled toward God as the author of it all, and if I’m not putting him first, I might as well quit. It will all be in vain, it won’t bring me any peace, and the true battle is being lost.’

(Rachel Wilson writing in The Life You Never Expected p44)

I find this quote really challenging, I have now been well for a couple of months (more on that here) and I ashamed to admit that I am often spending less quality time with God than when I was chronically ill. The reason for this is that my days have become a lot busier and my capacity has increased. This means that whereas before I had to depend on God to physically get through my day, now I can do a lot of things in my own strength. It is a mistake for me not to put God first, I need to focus my attention on him BEFORE I run around and do things. I also need to give him my best time in the day (more on that here).

When I move my focus from God, I also lose my peace, I need to be drawing strength and wisdom daily from his Word which is alive and is sharper than a double edge sword (Hebrews 4:12). After all, God’s ways and thoughts are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:9) so I would be very foolish to rely on my far inferior wisdom. As it says in Proverbs 21:30: ‘there is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.’ I need to remind myself that it is not about the quantity of the Bible that I read but about thinking on it, letting it shape and influence me. It would be better to read a couple of verses and meditate on them than to read/listen to several chapters and give it only part of my attention.

In addition to prioritising the Bible I also want to put God first by praying more often. I want to pause and pray (even if only for a few seconds) before rushing in to fix something or before I make a decision. As 1 Chronicles 16:11 says: ‘look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.’ I am going to write more next week on the topic of growing in prayer.

Lord, I’m sorry for when I do not put you first in my life, please help me to do this. I want you to be involved in the details of my day-to-day life. I want to draw strength and wisdom from your Word and from time in fellowship with with you. Amen.