Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Friday 08/31/2012)

You First

1 John 4:18-20 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁸ There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection]. ¹⁹ We love Him, because He first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen.

            Normally we would like to go first, be considered first and given things first, if it not something that will cause us to have to work, be placed in an uncomfortable situation or require of us.  Especially if we get before we give, or before we have to put forth much effort.  The other night my husband and I were speaking with some friends of ours that are more like family;  we got into a conversation about the spirit of entitlement, and how there are so many that are living and operating under that spirit, especially our young people, but not limited to that particular demographic.  They think that it is their right to be first, come first, and be thought of first and to get first even when they have done nothing to earn it or proven that they deserve it.  We have learned that first is a right not a privilege or an earned positioning.

            Not so strangely enough we have learned to carry over this same attitude with God. We want Him to prove himself, fix our situation without any effort on our part.  We forget that God was first, He already put forth all of the effort that He needed to, He first loved us, and that is the only reason why we love Him, and He gave us life and then when we messed the perfection that God gave us up, He developed a plan to give us back our relationship with Him and our life in abundance if we would only just come to Him, and be obedient to Him.  But for some of us that is not enough, we are still treating God’s love as if that was not enough for us to step up our game and love Him, and do something for Him, or even prove to Him that we are worthy of being blessed.  Most of us just want God to keep on going first as it concerns the effort and us to getting first as far as the provision and the blessings.  When do we go first as it concerns doing something for God and pushing into His presence, living a life that is acceptable to Him?  We want all His love and all that comes with that but we don’t want to love our brothers and sisters, we don’t want to respect our parents and we don’t want to pay our tithes or sow into the things God leads us to.  We have turned this attitude of getting first into a way of life and a way of serving God.  We want His love to keep covering us as we live our lives our way, instead of us being grateful for what He has already done and taking the initiative to live a life holy and acceptable which is after all our reasonable service. 

How about we stop waiting for God to show us He loves us, He already did that and continues to each day that we are allowed to awaken to see another day we have never seen before.  How about we love those around us first before we are looking for God to give us others to love; why can’t we go first and give to God what we know He desires instead of Him having to break us down to get it.  Can’t we first honor God with our lives expecting nothing, before we are in His face asking Him once again to bail us out of the mess we made?  Why can’t we be first good stewards over what God has given us, before we are asking for more?  We need to go first, because God is always going first, shouldn’t it be that we give Him back the treatment that He has so gracious given us?  Shouldn’t we love on Him first things in the morning, without having something remind us to do so? Shouldn’t we want to be the first to praise Him, instead of Him first having to do more for us to receive praise?  It is time for many of us to stop waiting for God to always go first in our lives and decide that He has gone first enough and that He is worthy of the love, obedience, honor and glory FIRST, before He does another thing!