PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST

We must expend our greatest energy coming to know with all our heart that we are loved by a God of pure, infinite and unfathomable love. Yes, we obey, trust, worship, serve and witness. But, we have come to think of these things as primary. Not so! Recall the words of C.S. Lewis:

Put first things first and we get second things thrown in; put second things first and we lose both first and second things.

True love, true and pure service and devotion to God, is an outflow, a result, a product of a heart that has been consumed (or is being consumed) in God’s unconditional acceptance. This love is new and admittedly foreign to our experience, mysterious and inexplicable, outrageous and incomprehensible. This love is the zenith of too-good-to-be-true! It is the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl of great price, the Alpha and the Omega!

As you journey life’s days, as you daily serve the God you barely know, may you find a way to allow God to express His love to you. Practice solitude – be alone and quiet long enough that you can clearly hear His voice of love. Also, practice community. He will commonly appear to you in the form of another person, a friend – one who, like you, is on the same journey.

I’m sitting here re-reading George Barna’s Revolution, now 3 years old (a long time in today’s terms). In it he describes this 20 million strong sub-nation of Revolutionaries this way: The have no use for churches that play religion. They eschew ministries that compromise or soft-sell our sinful nature to expand organizational turf. The refuse to follow people in ministry leadership positions who cast a personal vision rather than God’s…. They refuse to donate one more dollar to man-made monuments…. They are embarrassed by language that promises Christian love and holiness but turns out to be all sizzle and no substance.

They are seeking a faith experience that is more robust and awe-inspiring, a spiritual journey that prioritizes transformation at every turn, something worthy of the Creator whom their faith reflects. Revolutionaries zealously pursue an intimate relationship with God, which Jesus Christ promised we could have through Him.

(All this is quoted from pages 13-15).

For God’s sake, let’s give it to ‘em!