YLD (21/08/01) – We obey God by putting God first
Summary
Topic: We obey God by putting God first
Key scripture: He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27)
Tightrope Balancing Act
Have you ever taken a road trip to a circus? If you have, you may have seen a tightrope balancing act.
Sometimes, it can be hard to think of God first when we want to do things our own ways. Just like the tightrope performance, it can be very hard to balance what God wants for us and what we want for ourselves.
What does it matter to God and to us? (Exodus 20:1-6)
We are setting out on our road trip to discover the Ten commandments
God was speaking to Moses, who was up on the peak of Mount Sinai – to hear from God about the ways God wanted the people to live.
The first commandment God gave Moses was do not have other gods before the one, true God, or in other words, to always put God first.
The second commandment was don’t worship idols. Idols are things people pay more attention to than they pay attention to God.
The big idea: We obey God by putting God first
1. God first
Question: How do we put people first?
Always think about them and want to spend time with them
When good thing comes up, you remember them and want to reserve for them
In a similar approach, we will do the same if we put God first
We choose to spend time with God and reserve time to worship Him
We would choose to do thing in His way rather than my way
We obey his commands: If you love me keep my commands (John 14:15).
His love is not conditional. He knows what is best for us and for those who keep his commands will eventually receive the blessings he has prepared for us
2. No idol
God gave things for us to enjoy
There is nothing wrong with enjoying the fun things, but anything we love too much can become like an idol and distract us from what God wants for us
God doesn’t want us to love anyone or anything more than we love God
Paul is telling the people who live in Philippi, called Philippian, nothing is more important to him than his relationship with Jesus.
We are saved not because of keeping the “law” or the “rule”, but putting our trust in Jesus. When people or things are important to us, we give them our time and attention
God wants to be first in our lives and in order to do that, we have to give God our time, too. That’s a good reminder that no matter how busy we are, we can always find time in our day to make God first in our lives
Why? Because we obey God by putting God first
