Get Your Priorities Straight by Sowing Seeds

I've heard many sermons about the importance of putting Christ first in our lives. Concerning priorities, most Evangelical pastors would say God should be number one, family number two and perhaps our job/career number three. A recent Christianity Today article featured some findings from a recent Pew survey about family. Pew found that 42% of Christians (all protestants and Catholics) viewed family as the greatest source of meaning in their lives. 29% of these same Christians  found religion to be "their most important source of meaning." So, these results seem to indicate that most Christians find family more meaningful than God.

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Evangelical Christians fared better--45% placing their faith first, and 31% putting family first. Though we (yes, I'm an Evangelical) fared better than all combined Christians, we still fell short of Christ's words: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:37 ESV)

My purpose in this blog post isn't to heap condemnation on those Christians who lack passion for their Creator. Frankly, my passion for God can be weak at times. I think we can make God #1 in our lives--even during those times when we don't passionately experience Him. After all, we walk by faith, not by sight or feeling. So, putting God first requires that we take steps of faith.

With our physical eyes, we can see our families. We don't physically see God. We have to walk by faith in order to put Him first in our lives. What are some steps of faith we can take to place God first? All I can do is share what I do to make God my number one priority. I think God meets me with grace when I take rough steps of faith toward Him. When I take a step, he blesses me with more faith. Faith builds on faith. I take one step, then He enables me to take several more steps. It's kind of like seed faith. I sow a little seed and God causes it to sprout and grow into a large plant or tree.

I think the first seed is prayer. We need to talk to God regularly. If I feel spiritually weak, then I should ask God to fill me with His Holy Spirit. James wrote, "You do not have, because you do not ask." (James 4:2 ESV). If I've made other things number one in my life, then the first thing to do is make a prayer of confession, such as: "Lord, I confess I've been more passionate about politics (or family, sports, career, etc.) than you. Lord, help me to be most passionate about you. Thanks for forgiving me. Fill me with your Spirit so that you will be the most meaningful person in my life. Amen."

The next seed of faith would be meditating on Scripture daily. Psalm 119:11 (ESV) says, "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." I think God's word is like a battery charger. I'm the battery that needs charged up daily. If I'm not regularly reading His word, then I get spiritually drained.

The next seed would be regular fellowship with other believers. This doesn't necessarily mean going to church every Sunday. It's possible (typical?) to attend church and not go beyond small talk. I attend church most Sundays and rarely get past small talk. The pathetic thing about this is that I'm bad at surface chit chat. Consequently, I don't mingle very well, and I look forward to the sermon so I don't have to invent fluffy conversation. I think clicks form in part because the small-talk experts gravitate towards other small-talk experts. Some are good at shooting the breeze, others aren't. It's not that clickish people are bad, they're simply going where it's comfortable.

It's important to have meaningful dialogue with other Christians. This means we should actually talk about the deep things of God. What are we learning from Scripture? What's the Lord teaching us? We need to share these things with our fellow believers. Small groups (that are dialogue-based) are much better at meeting this need. Small groups need to be intentional about focusing on meaningful dialogue. This may require that each member do a little preparation prior to the meeting, so they can have something other than surface talk to share.

Also, meeting with a strong Christian regularly, one-on-one, over coffee or tea (or a meal) is very beneficial. I meet with a friend every other week for a Christian book discussion. It's a "two-man book club." Of course, we talk about more than just the current book we're reading. These talks should also have some intentionality about them, or they could become only surface chit chat sessions. For me and my friend, the book discussion is the intentional thing.

Another "seed of faith" is receiving good teaching. God has provided gifted teachers within the body of Christ. All Christians need to receive good, Bible-based teaching on a regular basis. Good teaching can come through books, articles, videos, audios, Bible studies and sermons.

I'll mention a final seed of faith we can sow. We need to obey God. Please don't be intimidated by the word obedience. I see obedience as something that is a part of our progressive sanctification. As we grow in Christ, God reveals new areas where we need to change. This growth often means that we need to obey God in some part of our lives. Your area is typically different than mine. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15 ESV). This isn't referring to the Old Testament law. Rather, there are numerous commands in the New Testament that God wants us to obey. But really, we can only obey God if we are first abiding in Him in a relationship. If we try to obey God apart from an abiding relationship with Him, we will fall on our face. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to obey God from the heart. One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV), "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." I've found it true that God gives me strength when I recognize my weakness.

I'm sure there are other seeds of faith we should sow, but I'll finish with this: we should be diligent with the measure of faith God has given us. In other words, we should be faithful with the small things that God has revealed to us. If there's some easy little thing that I know God wants me to do--then I should do it. When I'm faithful with the small things, then God will entrust me with more. Blessings to you.