What is Your Priority?
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
2 Corinthians 5:9
If we make it our aim to please God then serving God must be our first priority in life. But how often do we make choices with no thought of pleasing God? If we justify our own choices which are not pleasing to God, shouldn’t the Holy Spirit convict us? The reality of the situation is that our justification for not giving the Lord priority can become stronger than the Spirit’s conviction. Spiritually speaking, this is a dangerous situation in which to be. You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3) I can be my own god which takes priority over the true God.
There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12) When we place anything as a higher priority than God there are both worldly and eternal consequences. Satan will tempt us with many things of the world in order to gain a small foothold in changing our priorities. His goal is to separate us from God through our own innocent desires. He will entice us with anything that will cause us to miss worship and Bible study, reduce our prayer time, and make choices with no thought of God.
How do we overcome justifying our priority changes even if is infrequent? If you have this problem of intermittently changing priorities between yourself and God, then your heart is divided and not fully devoted to Him. This is the spiritual warfare that we all fight every day. In order to be victorious, our hearts must be driven to serve the Lord and we must remind ourselves not to let Satan have a foothold. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:15)
When we obey the Lord, giving him top priority, it brings peace and fulfillment. When we justify our ways, it may not bring guilt, but it doesn’t bring peace and fulfillment, and it certainly doesn’t bring God’s blessings. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10) We can only have lives to the full when we give the Lord priority.
Today, be aware of giving the Lord top priority and don’t give in to the desires of the flesh. Step out and trust the Lord and venture into his divine calling. This is what makes life exciting, rewarding, and fulfilling. If we don’t have a spirit to prepare and step out into the unknown through faith, then maybe Satan has put out the fire in our spirits.
Let’s Pray: Lord, ignite the fire in my spirit and destroy the fear from Satan, because fear puts out the fire. Let me think eternally and stand boldly for Christ in this sinful world. Thank you for giving me the Spirit who has power over Satan and the demons, and let Him have power over my worst enemy, me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.