Many people love God and even say God is the most important thing in their life. Unfortunately, some of these very people don’t read the Bible, attend church, or involve Him in their everyday lives. I’m not preaching condemnation, so please don’t get mad if you’re one of these people. I used to be, and none of us is perfect in this area.
We do the same thing in our relationships with people and other things that we know should be a priority. We see this in secular areas of life. Mates say their spouse is the most important person in their life, but they do very little or nothing to cultivate, protect and spend time on that relationship. We can say that our health is a priority, but we do everything contrary to healthy living; poor eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, and on and on we could go. We’d like these things to be a priority or we at least acknowledge they should be, but if they were, wouldn’t we be giving our time and attention to them?
Mental assent (agreeing in your intellect) is not the same thing and good intentions alone do not demonstrate that something is valuable to us. Sometimes people don’t even realize what they have made their priorities. Even confusing their heartfelt desire of wanting something to be placed at the top of their priority list, with actually making it one.
Oftentimes, people allow others to dictate their priorities. An employee must deal with this in just about every area of business. A child can follow his parent’s goals for him and allow those to become his priorities. We succumb to pressure from all kinds of outside sources and even from our own expectations; allowing our priorities to be randomly chosen through circumstances instead of making an active decision of what they will be.
But none of us can excuse ourselves when it comes to our relationship with our heavenly father. He gives us the choice whether or not to make Him a part of our lives and to what degree.
So let’s first look at what a priority is, and then what it might truly mean to make God a priority in your life!
The dictionary defines priority as taking: the highest or higher in importance, rank, privilege, or something given special attention or the right of precedence over others (dictionary.com)
We can surmise from this that if we make something a priority, it has a high value to us. We can have different reasons for why this is true, but ultimately, our commitment is based on the perception of something having importance enough to rank high, be given special attention or precedence.
What do you do when something is important to you?
- Purposely think about it
- Plan for it
- Give intentional quantity and quality time to it
- Put it before many other things
In referring to our relationship with God, we need to see value in it, and magnify Him as Lord over our lives. It’s a heart issue, not only something we expect out of obligation, to give our time toward.
However, sometimes in relating to God, people have confused religion with relationship. If we feel we are “putting our time in” with God by going to church or even reading a daily devotional, but that “time” doesn’t impact us, or have influence on us, then we must consider whether we’re really putting God first “IN OUR LIFE” or just punching the clock. This is done in obedience to a commitment, even when you don’t feel it; disciplining yourself, but not out of obligation.
It tells us in the book of Romans what happens when a person’s heart becomes hardened by not putting God first. “Because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21
We have to see His value, our need, and the importance of having a relationship with Him. This is the first step to salvation, and the foundation for a lifestyle of faith that continues to make God first place and Lord of our lives.
After we’ve made the commitment,
Here are some suggestions to increasing the preeminence of God in your everyday life. This has to be done intentionally, and if you’re not used to doing it, it might feel mechanical or uncomfortable at first, but if your desire is to know Him and spend time with Him, then your relationship with Him will become a greater priority. The more time we spend in God’s presence, the more we desire it and the more real our need for Him becomes.
- Become God conscious – Glorify (elevate, worship, esteem) Him as God (Rom. 1:21)
What do I mean by that? More than a general awareness of His existence. Look for Him in nature. A sunrise, flowers and trees, and everything in creation was the work of His hand. Worship Him as the creator.
Romans 1:20 says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
- Practice His presence-God is a person and to have a relationship, we need to act like it.
Recognize Him in circumstances, people, and His personal presence in you. Acknowledge His presence wherever you go, involve Him in everyday affairs, and go to Him like you would to one of your closest friends and trusted relationships. Do we go to God with a conversation, need, or thankfulness before we would someone else?
Proverbs 3:6 tells us, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
- Actively meditate on His Words, promises, and commands-Be thankful and use your divine imagination to see Him by faith
It is God’s heart that we come to know Him intimately. It’s good to know more about Him, but it’s greater to know Him experientially. Make it your aim to worship Him as God, be thankful in everything, and put faith in His Word and His desire to bless you.
In John 17:3 Jesus says, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Revelation 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
John 15:11 Jesus says, “…so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.”
As with any relationship or any other priority, our commitment to making God first in our life is not a one-time event. We have to frequently check our spiritual pulse to be sure we are spending quality and quantity time with Him. Just like other relationships, the way you spend your time with God will not be exactly the same each day, or even the amount of time. And if you recognize that you might have let your relationship slip, don’t allow guilt to motivate you, just come back to Him.
He has promised, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29:13)