My dear brothers,
You might remember that my last devotional focused on how we, as mature Christian men, should be living our lives in the light of these last days. I will continue with that theme for the foreseeable future. Since I am presently doing a study of the book of Revelation, the next few devotions will be based on the warnings of Jesus to the Revelation churches.
Thought for the day: “The Warning to the church at Ephesus”
Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. Rev 2: 4-5
In my earliest days as a Christian, I always figure that “first” love was a time reference. By that I mean that “first” meant the love that we had for God back when we were first saved. But now I believe the primary issue is one of priorities, not time. Back when I was a young Christian, I remember hearing messages about the importance of having God as my number one priority. And that certainly sounded reasonable. That was followed by family, which we were told, should be the number 2 priority and career came in third with the rest of the list following. And if you have been a Christian for a long time – you have probably heard similar messages. I certainly remember being taught these things. And if I am going to be fully honest with you guys, then I would also have to admit that I have even taught that lesson – more than once. I say that to my shame – because I don’t believe that anymore. I have only relatively recently come to realize that approach to the Christian life simply doesn’t work.
Now you may be sitting there thinking, “Wait a minute, I would have sworn he just said having God as my number 1 priority doesn’t work!? Can that be right” And if that is what you are thinking – congratulations! You are still tracking with me! That is exactly what I just said. Let me explain.
First of all, I do not believe that it was ever the will of Almighty God that He should settle for being my “number 1” priority on the top of a very long list of other stuff – even good stuff. And if we really believe what God says about Himself in His Word – we would never want Him to settle for that either.
Secondly, we are living in a time when men are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; when men will not bear sound doctrine but instead will gather unto themselves many men who will preach what their itching ears want to hear. And we are living in a culture that has apparently decided that Christian believers and Christian values are the real “bad guys” in this country. In addition, we are being confronted constantly by an enemy who is angry because he knows his time is short. Under those circumstances – I firmly believe the only way that we as Christian men can navigate these waters is by living our lives in such a way that God – is our ONLY priority.
If I can get to a place where knowing and pleasing God is my only priority – then all the other things in my life [family, job, ministry etc.] will naturally fall into place where God wants them to be and not where I want them to be. And I might even be surprised by how many of the things I used to consider good and important – might simply disappear from my life because they were not God’s priority.
I believe this is the approach that Jesus was teaching when He said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” [Luke 14:26-27] And again when He said, “…no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:62] We all know that Jesus would never teach us to literally hate our parents, especially since the Old Testament commands us to honor them. But our love for God should totally overwhelm everything else.
I don’t know how many of you are participating in the latest “Behold your God – the Weight of Majesty” small group study – but it is really blessing the group I am in. It reminds us of just how great and marvelous and awesome and glorious our God is. Gentlemen – this week, let us make knowing and pleasing God our ONLY priority. Truly He deserves it.