What's Your First?

You can tell what’s important to a person by what they put first. What we first give our attention to usually sets the direction for all that follows after. In the very first book of the Bible, God gives us an example of the value He places on the first (which is usually the best).

Genesis 4:4

Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift.

The Lord showed us straight up from the beginning that certain gifts were more acceptable than others. The Lord is great and greatly to be praised. When we offer Him our second best, we are communicating that we feel He is worth our left overs.

In Hebrews, the Bible says: It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.

For those of us who love the Lord and are Bible followers, this concept is shown to us all throughout the Bible over and over again.

Deuteronomy 26

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession and you have conquered it and settled there, put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.

Giving God our first is also tied to blessings for our homes. Ezekiel 44:30 says:

The first of the ripe fruits and all the gifts brought to the Lord will go to the priests. The first samples of each grain harvest and the first of your flour must also be given to the priests so the Lord will bless your homes.

Exodus 23:19

As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the Lord your God.

God equates your first with not only your best, but also your trust that He will abundantly bless the rest of what you have and provide for your every need. God does not tell us anything He is not willing to do Himself. He gave us His first Son with the knowing that giving His first would produce a harvest of the most wonderful family in all of history.

1 Corinthians 15:20,23

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

Not only does the Word call us to give our first and best, but the Word is the first and best that was given to us when He put on flesh and came as a gift to you and me. The harvest that was produced as a result was my salvation and yours, as we are brought into our Father’s amazing family!

Giving the tithe is not hard for me because the Bible says that the earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord. None of it really belongs to me anyway, so honoring the Lord with the first of what belongs to Him is more comforting to me than me taking away for myself what He has commanded me to give Him.

However, the aspect of the first that many of us overlook, is in relation to our time. I believe there is power in honoring God with the first of my time. When I give Him the first and best, then He is able to bless all that follows.

Proverbs 8:17

I love those who love me, and those who seek me early and diligently shall find me.

We have a world vying for our attention. Our television, our phone calls, our emails, our apps, our radio programs, and on and on it goes. If we don’t purpose any differently, all these voices calling out to us will cause us to give our ear to their voices first, to their opinions first, and to their views first. Then, where does that leave God? A quick look at the Bible when we feel like it? Whenever we may or may not have extra time for it? Once a week maybe at best? That just doesn’t sound very honoring to the God who created us, died for us, and we claim to love more than anything else.

Do we really? Do we really love Him more than anything else? It seems to me that what we love we would put first above everything else.

Someone recently said to me that they respect how much I love reading the Bible because I do it every day. Don’t get me wrong, I love, love, love my Bible. Some days I literally skip over to it and say out loud, “I can’t wait to see what I’m going to read today!!” (I know, I know ;-)). But, other days I don’t. Many days I don’t. The reason I read the Word every day and learn so many wonderful things from the Lord is because I have purposed to put Him first.

I don’t watch a television show first. I don’t open a phone app first. I don’t answer emails first. I read my Bible first. This doesn’t mean that I do it in the first 10 minutes of waking up! I don’t know that I could quite function yet. But, I don’t allow my attention to be given to other sources when I haven’t given my attention to the Source of my life!

The television can’t restore my marriage. My phone app doesn’t give me wisdom in raising up my children. My job doesn’t keep me from falling into pits of destruction. The Word of God is life to my soul. God inhabits my worship to Him. That alone is reason to put God first with my time every day.

I don’t put Him first because I feel like it every day. I don’t put Him first because I spend time with Him when I randomly feel like it. I put Him first because He is worthy of my first and I have determined to not allow my time to first be given to anything other than Him. If we don’t purpose to give Him the first of our money, we will spend it on other things and rob ourselves of His blessings in our lives. If we don’t purpose to give Him the first of our time, we will spend our time doing any and everything else and then have none left over for Him.

Father God, You have shown us in Your Word how important giving You our first and best is. You gave me Your first and best with Jesus, and I am so thankful for Him. I pray that You help give me the strength and determination to give You my first and best with my time. You alone are worthy of my first.

#time