The Lord is your top priority and the first love in your life. Do everything in your daily life for your love of Him…That, in turn, pleases Him.
You cannot serve two masters: Trying to please and impress people, while also trying to please the Lord, leads to a loss of focus on your top priority–Your love of God. Trying to please and impress people becomes a false idol.
Matthew 6:24–and the Lord said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Jesus said we can have only one master. We live in a materialistic society , where many people serve money. They spend all their lives collecting and storing it, only to die and leave it behind. Their desire for money and what it can buy far outweighs their commitment to God and spiritual matters. Whatever you store up, you will spend much of your time and energy thinking about. Don’t fall into the materialistic trap, because “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1Tim.6:10) Can you honestly say that God, and not money, is your master? Which one occupies more of your thoughts, time and efforts?
Do you have the knowledge of God without an enthusiastic love for God? Both are necessary if we are to keep our love for God intense and untarnished.
Revelation 2:4– and the Son of Man said, “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
Making the Lord your top priority has many benefits, which include the blessings and grace He gives you in response to your love of Him and others around you…
But, for me, I have found that the joy of being in His Presence through out the day, is far greater than any other pleasure of the world.
Psalm 16:11–and David said “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”
David’s heart was glad–He had found the secret to joy. True joy is far deeper than happiness; we can feel joy in spite of our deepest troubles. Happiness is temporary because it is based on external circumstances. But joy is based on God’s Presence within us. As we contemplate His daily Presence, we will find contentment. As we understand the future He has planned for us, we will experience joy. Don’t base your life on circumstances, but on God and His Presence in your daily life. (Read all of Psalm 16 to truly understand the joys and benefits of a life lived in companionship with God.)
My Prayer for this day is:
Lord, thank you for drawing me close to you each morning and bathing me in Your Love that is always unconditional. Lord, for so many years, I was enslaved to trying to please people; looking for their unconditional acceptance and love. Lord, I see now that kind of true love can only be provided by you. Lord, I never found the love I was looking for, because I was looking in the wrong places (relationships, money, possessions, and status) and because of that, I walked many years with an empty, lonely heart. Lord, thank you for staying with me for all those years, waiting patiently for me to become aware of, and accept, your love for what it is…. unfailing and unconditional.
