First Things First

As we go into the fall, there are many changes and transitions and new things that begin. We anticipate a new start for the academic year. We work hard, we serve, we try to make a difference. Sometimes we are recipients of much of it and take it all in.

Again, let us be reminded of our mission statement: Chisholm Baptist Church exists to love God, love others, and make disciples. How does this happen? The words of our mission can be easy to say but not so easy words to live out. We can go through an entire year where we can do a lot of stuff, but we never truly encounter God or are transformed by Jesus.

Our first call to ministry is our call to Jesus Himself. Jesus is the Treasure. It is Him that we pursue with all of our heart. We must behold Him, be captivated by Him, and hear Him to the degree that we allow Him to transform our heart. We can hold back part of our heart and life from Him. We need to repent of and smash the idols we have been keeping in our heart.

This changes our priorities. If everything that we do goes through the filter of loving and cherishing Jesus first in our lives, we come face-to-face with the Spirit of Christ Himself. Our Christian life doesn’t end when we leave the church building. Our Christian life is everything and everywhere.

If we see it like this, it drives us to our knees. We come before God through His Word and prayer and spend our quiet time before Him. I have recently had some church leaders in my discipleship group who said, “We all have the same amount of time. It is what we do with our time and how we spend it with Jesus in our quiet time with Him that makes the difference.” This convicts me!

Is Jesus first? Do we allow the Spirit of God to convict us and tear down the idols of our heart? Do we want to see God move in our lives, in the lives of our children and grandchildren, in our community, in our world? We can’t expect any of it unless He takes first place in our lives each day…unless we throw aside some things in our lives and spend time with Him diligently and make Him first in everything.

A radical transformation of lives will not take place unless it takes place in each one of our lives this year. Anything less is not Jesus first.