Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Many years ago, I walked out to my pickup truck and got ready to head off into the woods, but no matter how many times I cranked it over, it simply would not start. I popped the hood open and took a good look at the motor, shaking the wires, and thinking that it possibly wasn’t getting a spark. Over and over I tried but after a half an hour I finally gave up and walked down to my neighbors house for some help. He happened to be home and I asked him if he would mind giving me a tow into town so the mechanic could take a look at my truck, and around fifteen minutes later we pulled up by the side of the local garage. As we pushed the truck into the shop, I told him that I would be downtown getting a pop as he looked at it. But to my amazement, by the time I had returned he already had the truck parked outside and running. Wow, this guy is quick I thought to myself, and asked him how much the damage was. He said I’m only going to charge you five bucks, which sounded like a really good deal. He said the truth of the matter is that I only had to put a gallon of gas in your tank, because it was completely out of fuel!
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Most of my morning was completely wasted because I was looking at everything else first, rather than the fuel gauge. Sometimes people don’t get anywhere in their lives because their eyes are focused on everything else first, rather than Christ and the teachings of Holy Scripture
Matthew 6:33 (KJB) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
If I had only looked at the fuel gauge right away that morning, everything from that point on would have been fine, but when you don’t prioritize things in your life, things can go haywire real quick. Ultimately our relationship with God has to be first in our lives, more important than anything else. That relationship must take precedence over everything else in this world. Seek ye first is exactly that, first and foremost. The word first is defined as coming before all others in time and order, or foremost in position rank or importance.To prioritize means to treat something more important than other things, and our relationship with the Lord Jesus must be above and beyond all others. It must be greater than your wife, your children, your neighbors, and even your own relatives.
Matthew 10:37 (KJB) He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Someone who is unworthy is not deserving of effort, attention or respect. Remember that God has prioritized the commandments for a reason, because our love and our relationship with Him must be greater than anything else.
Matthew 22:36-38 (KJB) Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
When people’s priorities are completely out of whack, it can ruin their relationship with God and any hope of obtaining eternal life. Whatever’s most important to you is what you will be completely focused on. Some people are extremely poor for this very reason, because they focus the hours of their day on their relationship with God rather than seeking after the treasures of this world. Some people get out of bed in the morning and their thoughts are not on God, it’s on money, which is devastating and destructive for the soul. Rather than coveting after a close relationship with the Lord, their thoughts are consumed with obtaining temporal riches, which is one of the reasons why the love of money is the root of all evil.
1 Timothy 6:9-10 (KJB) But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Jesus was first in the life of the Apostles, as they were abiding in a close relationship with Him every single day. They had given up everything just to be near him! You talk about prioritizing someone in their lives, that is exactly what they did. To be honest, most people who profess to be Christian don’t have that type of relationship with God at all. They are simply deceiving their own hearts, and because of this, they will be without Spiritual fruit at the judgment.
Matthew 13:22 (KJB) He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
As I’ve said for twenty years, a lot of people will pray right before they go to bed, proving that Jesus is last in their day. Whatever you love the most is what you are going to run after hard in the morning. Is it taking your dog for a walk? Then they are more important than God. Is it spending time with your wife? Then they are more important than God. Is it putting in some extra hours at work? Then work is more important than God. We are talking about obtaining eternal life, so don’t kid yourselves. Love is a powerful emotion, and if God isn’t first, then you obviously love something more than Him. I have concluded that the Christian Life will fail if God is not first in your life, because everything else will become more important than Him. Like wasting time under the hood rather than looking at the fuel gauge, people will end up wasting their lives because they are not seeking Christ.
Psalms 27:8 (KJB) When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
People would come out to hear Jesus preach for days on end, but when they finally went home, that relationship was supposed to continue and flourish through their close prayer life with Him. There are many people who gather together for a church service, throw some money ino the plate and then go home and forgot about God for a week. If that’s the case, something is wrong. Church is supposed to draw us closer to God and build up our relationship with Him, so that our hearts seek Him, even when we are by ourselves. Church is a place of education and edification, but every person who names the name of Christ needs to seek Jesus in their own personal time. God blesses those who follow hard after him, but if He is placed on the back burner, then you are proving by your own actions how much you truly care about him.
Many years ago before I was a believer, I used to have many employees show up late for work. After criticizing them a few times, I would always admonish them to allow more time in their morning to get the things done that they needed to do. They needed to set the clock an hour earlier rather than snoozing and sleeping in.The truth is that many people who claim to believe in Christ are snoozing their lives away, because if they were truly honest with themselves they would realize that they are chasing after the world rather than Him. They had better wake up because our salvation is nearer then when we first believed
1 John 2:15-17 (KJB) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Many people are going to spend their lives running after the world simply because Christ is not first in their lives, just like wasting a day underneath the hood, rather than first taking a good look at…….
…….The Fuel Gauge
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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