Choose Jesus First

Whenever students get to pick their own team in gym class or a fun event, they pick based on a worldly basis.

The first picks are usually the most athletic kids, hoping they help win the game. The next is usually the close friend or the popular, funny, and loud kids. The third picks are kids whom they know. And the last pick is those whom they don’t know well. People often pick and choose based on themselves.

If we stop and read Scripture, we see this is the opposite of how God tells us to choose things. He tells us in His Word to not think of ourselves but think of Him. He tells us to always choose the Kingdom of God first, before anything else. That means we choose Him before we choose what we want. This means we choose God over our phones, social media or money. That means we choose God before we choose a girlfriend or boyfriend. It means we choose God before we choose how to respond to an action or a circumstance. It means always looking to God and His Kingdom before we look to ourselves and our kingdom.

When we seek God’s Kingdom, we find His righteousness, goodness, glory, love and commands. When we seek Him first, our actions will result in obedience to God’s Word. Every single time we respond out of His Word, we respond faithfully. Every time we react out of ourselves, we respond sinfully.

When we choose and decide things based on His Kingdom, we are being more like Jesus. When we choose and decide things based on our small, broken and sinful human kingdom, we are being less like Jesus.

Let’s check our choices, decisions and ways of life and see how many times we seek the Kingdom of God first before our own.