Your Daily Devotional for August 3, 2007

 

August 3,  2007

 

 

To Keep Him First

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

 

 

Hebrews 4:15-16

 

 

While the football fan was thrilled to be at the Super Bowl, he was disappointed with the location of his seat. Peering across the stadium through his binoculars, he spied an empty seat on the 50-yard line and made his way there. He asked the man in the next seat over, "May I sit here?" "Sure," the man replied, "This was my wife's seat. She was a huge football fan, and we came to the games together all the time until she passed away." "I'm sorry for your loss," the fan said, "But I'm curious. Why didn't you give the extra ticket to a friend or relative?" The widower replied, "They're all at the funeral."

 

Many times someone can love certain events or things so much that they forsake the people they love. That can happen to us if we are not careful. Over the past few days, we have seen that God desires that we would keep Him first in our lives. He has told us in the first commandment to have no other gods before Him. Today we will see that we must adore Him and thank Him in order to keep Him first in our lives.

 

God invites us into a relationship of loyal adoration and affection for Him. He says in Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." God desires that we would worship and adore Him alone. He deserves our adoration!

 

We must spend time with God in order to cultivate our affection for Him. Just as spending time with our spouses cultivates our love for them, spending time with God cultivates our affection for Him. It is vital that we spend time with God in order to keep Him first in our lives.

 

Tens of thousands of Christians have demonstrated this type of loyalty and love for God. John Huss, the Dutch reformer, once faced a Catholic priest from Czechoslovakia during the Council of Constance. Huss opposed the swearing of oaths and other doctrines in common with the Waldensian Anabaptist brethren. Huss had thirteen articles of faith in which he agreed with Wycliffe. Article five states, "Images of God and the saints are not to be tolerated and should be abolished." When these early Christians spent time with God each day, they were able to place God above everything else in their lives no matter what dangers they faced.

 

As we adore Him, we should also thank Him for all He has done. Adoration is a sign of gratitude. When we are thankful for what God has done for us, we will worship and adore Him. At this time in history, the majority of pagan nations were polytheistic. Israel had been affected by this paganism and had taken on the worship of other gods. But Israel was God's chosen nation and He desired for them to faithfully worship and thank Him for all He had done. As the nation of Israel praised God and spent time with Him, they were able to keep Him first in their lives.

 

God desires that we would place Him above everything else in our lives. It can be easy to get sidetracked or distracted by something else in this life, but as we spend time with God each day and spend time in thankful praise of Him, we will be able to keep Him first in our lives.

 

Do you spend time with God each day? Do you take time to thank Him and praise Him for all He has done for you? Spend time with God now. Show Him your adoration of Him by thanking Him and worshipping Him. We must remember to take time each day to worship God by spending time with Him so we may keep Him first in our lives.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 63-65 • Romans 6

 

 

 

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