First and Foremost

1 Samuel 7:3 (NET) - Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”

There was conflict between the people of Israel and the Philistines.

The people turned to the Lord for help.

Samuel reminded them that they first had to remove all foreign gods and images.

The people listened to Samuel and did so.

One day, the Philistines approached for battle.

Because the people placed the Lord first, He drove the Philistines away.

The Lord expects to be first in our lives.

In fact, He demands it.

He even made this the first of his ten commandments.

Exodus 20:3 (NET) - You shall have no other gods before me.

Jesus understood the importance of this.

He concluded His parable of the steward with a word of caution.

Luke 16:13 (NET) - No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Foreign gods and images are not the only thing that can evict God from His proper place.

Jesus reminds us that money can easily do this.

In fact, there are many things in life that tempt us to place them first.

We live in an age where we are bombarded by distractions.

The moment we place any person or thing above God, we practice idolatry,

Regardless of the circumstances we face, we must keep God first in our lives.

That is what He expects.

That is what He commands.

That is something we must remember.

We must keep God first even as we weather the storms of life.

If we do, we can count on God to impart His blessings upon us.

He did that for the people of Israel in their trials.

He will do the same for us.

When that happens, we must share those blessings with others.

This allows them to see that we have given God his proper place.

It also encourages them to do the same.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at https://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, June 11, 2021.

I will be back here on Friday, June 18, 2021