We’re all so incredibly blessed in various ways each day. I know that I all too often take my blessings, especially the small things, for granted. I’m blessed to have a home, a loving family, running water, clothing, food, a vehicle to drive, a job, and the list goes on and on. Yet it is so easy to overlook all of those blessings, and instead focus on other worldly things that we may not have. Everyone’s focus these days seems to have primarily become self, things and money.
If you’re like me, you’re probably saying to yourself, no, that’s not me. I’m not like that. I’m not focused on myself, things and money…. but if you start to really think about it, you probably realize that you are.
Think about what you’ve done in the last week. How much time did you spend on the internet and/or social media, etc? How much time did you spend praying and talking to Jesus? If you’re like me, the current answer is more time on the computer than time with God. Time goes by so fast each day, and if you don’t put God first, the day is over and before you get to spend any time with Him.
How many times did you worry, fear, or try to figure out a problem this week, instead of praying to ask Him for help, wisdom, guidance, etc? If you’re like me, my guess is you did this many times.
How many times did you thank Jesus for all the blessings that He’s given to you? And how many times did you covet or want things that you don’t have? This is so easy to do, especially in our world today.
Instead of being like everyone else, what if we intentionally choose to grow to be more like Christ each day? What if we show other people love like Jesus shows us? What if we choose to be selfless, and put other’s needs before our own?
What if we choose to put Jesus first every day, and ask Him for wisdom, knowledge, and to show us what He wants us to be doing? What if we ask Him to give us the words to speak to other people, to lead them toward Jesus?
We all have the freedom to make thousands of choices each day, from how we spend our time, to what we wear, what we eat, where we go, what we say, how we act and react, etc. Let’s take a step this week to make sure we put Jesus first.
Let’s choose to grow more and more in Christ each day. Let’s choose to change our lives, and the lives of everyone around us. Let’s take time to put the Lord first each day, to read the Bible, to learn more about Him, to listen to Him, to grow closer to Him, and to grow to be more like Him.
I’m not saying this is easy by any means, it is much easier said than done. I’ll be challenging myself to take time to pray and read the Bible first thing each day (which may seem relatively easy, but can be quite a challenge). Will you take this challenge with me?
If this is something that you already do, maybe challenge yourself in another way, like memorizing a new scripture, or talking to someone about Jesus – or anything else to grow to be more like Jesus, and closer to Him.
