Introduction. The number one is an important number.
I. Spiritual Priorities.
Illustration: I heard a little parable which demonstrates the idea of love with the whole heart. Mother tells child to take a beautiful flowered plant to a sick friend. Child gets to the door, tears off one leaf - keep the plant for herself. Same thing for several days. Has she obeyed the mother's command? Of course not! Giving a little “leaf of love” to God every now and then doesn’t fulfill God's command either. He wants all of us.
II. Priorities In Relation To Others.
III. Lifestyle Priorities.
Conclusion.
There are many things in life that fight to have first priority in our lives. Let’s work to make certain that we put first the things God would have us put first.
Longfellow said - “Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled by great ambitions”. Sadly most of our ambitions are not “great” but simply material, temporary and puny.
(Example: Ant carrying a crumb around an obstacle - matters little in the long run. Does he aspire immortality? He cannot even conceive of such - interested in a meal). Sadly our priorities are often just as fleeting. If we are to attain what is truly a great ambition the Bible teaches we must not be overcome with worry about the small things.
One reason this is true is because in reality these things belong to God. He has loaned them to man for a time. Offering the first of what we have acknowledges this fact.
Often we have family or friends whom we love. We feel great concern for them and want the best for them. Perhaps they are in a job they don't like and we hope for them that they will find an enjoyable one. Or find a good mate. - The most important thing is their soul!
Much of this really goes to the matter of character and credibility. Who will give any credence to the man who says one thing and does another. Or preaches what his life does not demonstrate. All of us have weaknesses but we must consider these weaknesses in our (often harsh) judgments of others.
Phillips Brooks wrote - “Be such a man, and live such a life, that if every man were such as you, and every life a life like yours, this earth would be God's paradise.” That is a lofty aim - yet we strive to imitate Jesus Himself. We must strive to let others see Him in us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said - “The only gift is a portion of thyself”