Week 7 –
First Things First
Last
week’s study focused on generosity and prayer.
Evaluate your understanding of your possessions in light of God’s
creation and Jesus’ directives.
Contemplate
the difference in your ability to control the universe and even your own life
with that of God. Have you ever over
estimated your own importance or ability?
With the proper perspective of Who God is and who we are, we cannot help
but walk in humility and repentance. Knowing God’s heart, we cannot help but be hungry
and thirsty for more of Him. The
more time we spend with God, the more we will be like Him – being gracious,
merciful, pure, and peacemakers. The more we become like God, the more the
world will hate us, and the more we will be persecuted and insulted for the name
of Christ. Where are you in this
character development? Is God working on
you?
Matthew
6:16-24 (NASB)
16 “Whenever
you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they
neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are
fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 But
you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that
your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret;
and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Whose
praise do you seek?
These
instructions by Jesus address perceived piety.
If you are humbling yourself to get closer to God, then focus your
attention on God and not on impressing others.
Jesus proceeds to call out the hypocrites who feign religious devotion
for the attention of men. Jesus goes on
to tell us how to be genuine in our devotion to God. If your true desire is to honor God, then
keep your outward appearance normal – God looks at our hearts not on the
outside (1 Samuel 16:7).
Treasure
this
While
playing a game, many times people will be cutthroat, “play for blood”, and do just
about anything to win. Win at all cost. However, in reality, what is important is our
character, reputation, and integrity. If
winning a game of monopoly costs you 3 friendships, would it be worth it? In the same way, Jesus says that what is most
important is what we store up for ourselves in heaven – not what we wind up
amassing on this earth. The things that
we collect here will dissipate. When you
finish that game of monopoly, the fake money all gets put back in the box; relationships
last. What are you playing for? What are you living for? If your greatest desire is self, then
your heart will be set on winning for you. If your desire is to please Christ,
then your heart will be devoted to honoring the King of kings in everything you
do.
Clear
vision
“The eye
is the window to the soul.” Many times
what we see is what gets us into trouble.
Consider the visual effects of temptation: greed, materialism,
pornography, etc. What we see tempts us
to satisfy ourselves. The eye is the
lamp of the body, however, as Jesus says in Mark 7:1-23, it is not what goes
into a man that defiles him. He’s
physically addressing food that enters the body, but He also brings the
figurative into the discussion when He states that the heart of man is wicked,
and from it all sorts of evil flow. The
heart of man is evil (see Genesis 8:21 and Jeremiah 17:9). The second nature that God gives us with the Holy
Spirit when we surrender our lives to Christ for His salvation and
lordship displaces and combats this evil nature just as we’ve read about
in Paul’s struggles. In 1 Corinthians
15:31, Paul goes so far as to say, “I die daily.”
Pick one
The final
topic in today’s passage deals with your life’s central theme. Jesus says, “No one can serve 2
masters.” Joshua charges the Israelites,
after years of battling the Canaanites, proclaiming, ‘Choose you this day whom
you will serve,’ in Joshua 24:13-28. In
1 Kings, 18:17-39, Elijah asks the Israelites, ‘How long will you be
double-minded in whom you will serve? If
Baal is god, worship him; if Jehovah is God, worship Him.’ Have you ever found yourself battling between
your 2 natures? Have you ever struggled
with your own desires knowing for certain that God would not be pleased with
your behavior? This is the constant
struggle of the believer. You will only
overcome this struggle by completely surrendering yourself to Christ and His
lordship. You must decide who will be
the center of your life. Choose this day
who you will serve, whether lord self or Lord Christ.
Monday
Read Acts 5:1-11. Who were Ananias and Sapphira trying
to impress? Just because you look good
on the outside doesn’t mean that you really are in a right relationship with
God. You may be able to fool people, but
God knows your heart. You cannot fool
God (see Galatians 6:7-8). Examine your
own heart. Are you interested in looking
like a Christian or being a Christian?
Tuesday
Read Psalm 19.
This Psalm is one that
reflects a heart devoted to God. These
words could be studied and absorbed for hours.
Do these words reflect your heart?
Can you say with conviction that God’s law is “more desirable than gold”
to you? The Psalmist finishes this
tribute to God’s design and law by saying, “Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my
Redeemer.” Pray those words out loud.
Wednesday
Read Jeremiah 9:23-24 and 2 Corinthians
10:12-18. These 2
scriptures are very straight forward.
There is nothing for us to gloat about outside of knowing Christ. Many times even Christians have a tendency to
gloat over their talents or their abilities. How foolish.
Consider standing before the throne of the Almighty Creator and boasting
about something He gave you. Would He be
impressed? No. God bestowed that ability or gift on you, and
He could easily remove it from you.
Remember that one of the 9 characteristics Jesus taught us is
humility. What are you proud of?
Thursday
Read John 9.
This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. There are several lessons we could learn from
this passage, but our focus here will remain on our need to have clear
vision. Verse 30 is an ironic rebuttal
from the once blind man. The end of the
chapter is even more interesting to us as Jesus is engaged by the religious
leaders. The Pharisees ask, ‘We’re not
blind, are we?’ Jesus responds, ‘If you
were blind, you wouldn’t have sin, but since you are so pleased that you see,
your sin remains.’ They were pleased
with themselves, boasting in themselves – they were so proud that they could
see; they had spiritual insight, they knew the Law, they were wise in their own
eyes. The one thing they couldn’t see
was their need. It is easy to lose focus
and see only our own accomplishments. Are
you the blind seeing because Jesus has opened your eyes, or are you the seeing
blind because you won’t listen to what God says?
Friday
Read Joshua 24:13-28. This excerpt follows Joshua’s
recounting of Israel’s progression from one guy (Abraham) to slaves in Egypt to
the mighty conquerors who saw victory handed to them. The Israelites had a history before these
instructions of pursuing other gods and that tendency would continue long after
these instructions. Joshua challenges
them to make a decision about who was to be their God. ‘Make up your minds,’ he says. Jesus says, “No man can serve 2
masters.” Have you found yourself
struggling between 2 masters? The most
important thing you can do is honor Christ with your life. Don’t fall into a trap of gratifying your own
fleshly desires. You know that God is
the Master of life. Trust Him; obey Him.
