Putting God First in Every Season of Life

So instead of all the other things in this world, things that we can touch, see, and experience, God says, I don't want you to worship created things. I actually want you to worship the creator. Now here's the interesting thing. Money, families, hobbies, these can all be created things and are created things, even our families. God created man and woman. God created our kids. God created everything we love. God created even the financial resources that we have. And because of that, God says, worship the creator instead of creating things. But man, you and I both know it can be hard at times to worship the creator because the created things are really, really cool every once in a while. They're really cool. [00:30:19] (57 seconds)  #WorshipTheCreatorNotCreation

So what it would look like is, man, I love my family so much that I'm gonna put God first. And what happens is, when I put God first, when I put God first, it's God and family. He actually helps me love my wife better. He helps me be a better father. He helps me be a better friend. It's actually meant to be that, like, I have to actually trust God that when he's number one, he helps me with the rest of the relationships in my life. [00:35:37] (36 seconds)  #ChoosingGodOverHobbies

Take delight in the Lord and he'll give you your heart's desires. What's on your heart's desire this morning? Like what's the thing that's really capturing your heart? I think if you love God, he says he's going to help you have your heart's desires. So what he wants though, is he wants us to first delight in him. [00:38:07] (20 seconds)  #MoneyChallengesFaith

But what I love is that when you do put God first, you develop a passion for him that's different from anything else. And in fact, if you've ever come into a moment where there's been a desperation for God, or even you're just delighting in God, you're turning off everything in your life, and maybe you're turning on a worship song, or you're dedicating a little bit of time, and you actually, there's this connection that happens with your creator, that feeling is nothing like anything else on this earth. [00:41:41] (32 seconds)  #TithingPutsGodFirst

So what he's saying is he says, put me first above all else and I'll give you everything you need. And what he's actually talking about here, he's not talking about generic things. Believe it or not, this is the moment Jesus spends an entire chapter talking about money and he's talking about money. He says, hey, seek me first above all else and then he'll give you everything that you need. Right, there's wants in this life and there's needs in this life, right? Sometimes our definition of wants and needs are different. [00:43:44] (32 seconds)  #FaithThatPutsGodFirst

But this is the thing for us as Americans though that is most easily captured in the first position. And when I say there's a faith that keeps God second and makes God second, it is this thing. And it's because you can't do this thing without this thing. You really can't support this thing without this thing. And really what's interesting is that God provides this thing. But the reality is this thing is the thing that can control us the most. This is why I unapologetically talk about it all the time. And the whole reason is because money or finances or things that we store up or the stuff we love, the things we buy, they are the last thing we let go of before we really hold on to God. [00:44:24] (62 seconds)  #FallResetRestartFaith

Tithing is where I'm forced. I'm not forced. I have the ability to give the first 10. The first thing that goes out, like the first check that we all write is probably for our mortgage or our rent. Before that, for the last 20 years, for my family, it's always been a tithe. A tithe of the local church of 10%, and then what happens, when I do that, I'm forced to let go. Because then I have to ask myself, am I going to make it? Have I budgeted right enough? But when I do that, I put God rightfully where he's supposed to be, in first place in my heart and in my life. [00:46:27] (37 seconds)

``But then, I love the verse, it says, seek first the kingdom of God, and then I'll give you everything else that you need. A lot of the times we think, we have to choose God and get rid of everything. What he does say is, you might need to let go of some stuff that's unhealthy, if it's taking my place. But he says, seek first me, the kingdom of God, and live righteously, and then I'll give you everything else you need. [00:47:04] (30 seconds)

But here's what he asks us. Will you have a faith that puts me in second place? Or will you have a faith that puts me in first place? And so I ask you the question this morning, what place does God sit in your life? If you were to look at all four of these, and if all these chairs were in order, one through four, where would God be in that order? [00:48:03] (36 seconds)

What I love about fall, fall is about resets. People start coming back to church in the fall. We get back into our routines in fall. Fall also gives us an opportunity to restart, to clean the slate, and to start over. And I want to invite you, maybe this is a morning that you need to restart, clean the slate, and start fresh again. I want to start by just allowing us to reprioritize everything through a simple prayer. [00:48:41] (35 seconds)