Put First Things First

Put First Things First (Ecc. 3:10-14; 12:13-14; Mark 12:28-34) Priorities: Fans of the American Wild West will find in a Deadwood, South Dakota museum this inscription left by a beleaguered prospector: "I lost my gun. I lost my horse. I am out of food. The Indians are after me. But I’ve got all the gold I can carry!" God saved us, not only to be with Him in heaven later, but to fulfill His will on earth, here and now God orchestrates all human experiences in accord with His timing an objectives (Ecc. 3:11) Therefore, whatever work that has been placed before us at any particular time, even the routine and mundane, comes from God Ralph Waldo Emerson said "A day is a miniature eternity". In our lives, there should not be any difference between secular and sacred, using all our time wisely for the lord. He, and only He, the one and only God (Deut. 6:4), sees “the big picture” (Ecc. 3:11; 8:17; Job 37:23) Remember also that God is unique in that He is the only one who hears (Ps. 65:2, Isa. 65:24, Jer. 29:12-13) and answers (Ps. 65:5, 1 John 5:1415) prayer (see 1 Kings 18:20-39, Elijah vs. the priests of Baal) Whatever God gives us, including His commandments, is always, ultimately, in our best interest (Jer. 29:11) He cares about each of us individually (Luke 1:46) We should therefore stand in awe of Him, trust in Him, obey His commandments, demonstrate our love for Him with every aspect of our being (Deut. 6:5), and be thankful for, and joyful in, whatever He has given us (Ecc. 3:14; 12:13) Love is a choice, not a feeling (Matt.5:43-44; 6:24, 10:37; Luke 10:27; John 13:34-35) We need to love even those we may not like. Our love for, and serve to, God must be whole-hearted (Deut. 6:5; 10:12; 30:6; Mark 12:29; Luke 10:27)

We can demonstrate our love for Him by the love we show to others (“our neighbors”) (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:43; 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31-33; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:9-10; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8) Priorities: A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in two’s for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under an eight point buck. "Where’s Harry?" "Harry had a stroke of some kind. He’s a couple of miles back up the trail.” "You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?" "A tough call," nodded the hunter, "but I figured no one is going to steal Harry." Begins externally, coming from God, Moves internally, through the gift of the Holy Spirit And is then expressed externally, by us! (1 John 4:16; 2 Tim. 1:7) Is done on a day by day, moment by moment basis (Prov.17:17) Is wanting what is truly best for this other person and committing yourself to provide it (Ruth 1:8-9) Is it possible to do everything that you do as an act of worship and act of love? Joy: We are commanded to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4; Isa. 61:10-11; 1 Thess. 5:16) The word “rejoice” or some related term is used 16 times in Paul's short letter to the Philippians. Some Psalms about rejoicing (32:11, 47:1, 95:1-2, 98:4, 100: 1-4, 118:24) Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) Mary said, “My soul (Greek, psykhe, meaning life, entire self) magnifies/glorifies/declares the greatness of the Lord” (Luke 1:46) God’s blessings are “magnified” (enlarged, brought into focus, made more visible) when we rejoice in Him. We should have joy in all circumstances. (James 1:2-3) "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Hab. 3:17-18)

Paul understood what it meant to rejoice in difficult circumstances (Acts 16:22-34, Beaten, imprisoned, yet sang songs of praise, see also Acts 28:17-20, 30; Phil. 1:13-14; Rom. 5:1-5) For Paul joy was bound up with the salvation and relationship he enjoyed with the Lord and was thus not contingent upon how things were going in his life or ministry. Paul also rejoiced over the gift the Philippians had sent him (Phil. 4:10) as a sign that the gospel was taking root and growing among them (Phil. 1:6). The Bible mentions "joy" or "rejoicing" 330 times. Joy is internal, based on true faith and not dependent upon circumstances. Heb. simchah means "gladness of heart," Gk., chara means "inner delight." We will be held accountable for how we respond to God’s direction and gifts (Ecc. 12:14) God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11; Rom 1:20) Thus, we shall never be ultimately satisfied by anything finite or temporal God is eternal (Deut. 33:27; Ps. 90:2; 102:12 & 25-28; 1 Tim. 1:17) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) God’s love and mercy are also everlasting (Jer. 31:3; Ps. 100:5) We all have in us a longing to return to that state, that relationship with God, that existed at the time of the creation of Adam (even though many may not recognize that that is what it is) (Titus 1:2) God has soon the way to eternal life in His word (John 5:39) We can have, and know that we have, eternal life, as a free gift of God’s grace, made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ (John 3:15-16; 1 John 5:13; Rom. 6:23)