Well, I guess I understood my Bible wrong for many years: Turns out that God DOESN’T want to be first in my life.
Nope, no blasphemy here…! When I thought about it, having a ‘first place’ implies that there are runner ups- second and third place holders that would gladly take that prime spot if the winner messed up.
But the thing is that God, by His very nature, is so far removed from any other thing or person that the idea of them contending for His rightful place is a joke!
If Jeff Gordon took first place in the Indy 500 against, say, a slug, it would be a ridiculous notion that he could possibly fail. Do we award the slug a second place trophy? No! Of course not! The slug can not perform the duties of a racer, doesn’t know the rules, can’t even drive, and doesn’t have the capability in any way to qualify in even the smallest way. So is Jeff then the first place winner? No. He is the ONLY winner.
God doesn’t want first place in my life; He wants the ONLY place in my life. If I consider Him to be first priority over something else, that still gives weight to the ‘something else.’ If, however, God is ONLY, then I will say, do, live, think, and experience everything else in light of Him. Nothing is done for it’s own sake, but for God’s sake. For example, I don’t sing in order to give God the glory. If God is my only, then I desire to give Him glory- and so I sing.
No, God doesn’t just want to be first in my life. He must be ONLY.
Thoughts?