Above All Else

When we look at our life there is always “one thing” that will be above everything else. People may not even know what their life is about in many cases. Even having to think about the most important thing in their life is offensive to many people. The fact that we do not want to think or know what our life is about will make no difference on judgment day. What our life was about will be explained to us in detail. The best way to focus our life is to get ourselves right with the Creator. Here is an example of an important man and what he wanted his life to be about.  O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live. Psalms 63:1-4 (NLT) King David felt that the love of God was above everything else in his life. The amazing thing is that the more we desire God as number one, the more he makes it possible.

This is the reason that the Lord said he really loved David in spite of the times David failed to act Godly. If we want to serve God we must have a relationship with him. We should know the name of God and what He is like. The Scriptures instruct us to love Him so it is important that we respond to our Creator in the correct way.  I want you to show (Me) love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 (NLT) God has always been worthy of our sacrifices because He is our Creator and without Him we cannot even take a breath. But in this verse God says that He wants us to know Him above anything else in our lives. There are no other Gods that have ever made such a request. They are all hiding something from their followers but our God wants us to know everything about Him. What a huge difference this makes in the relationship we can have with God. The first part of this verse says “I want you to show love” to Me. There is no way to ignore God and not have to answer for a bad attitude. He wants us and we must want Him.

God has always reached out to help people who desire him to be first in their lives. In the old days names had great meaning. We don’t fully understand how important a name was but we do know that in the beginning of our history it was very important. The first time you met someone their name would tell many things about who they were. As God reached out to humans he gave his name as an introduction.  And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’ —but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them. Ex 6:2-3 (NLT) Here we see God telling something about himself that Moses needed to know. In Abraham’s time the people were being introduced to the “Almighty” who had created everything including each individual. But when Moses was in big trouble, attempting to rescue the Israelites from Egypt he prayed and God gave his personal name so Moses could serve Him better. The additional meaning contained in the name Yahweh is interpreted as “the God who provides redemption for His people.” This greatly reassured Moses.

One of our problems today is that many people decide to put God above all else but they want to do it in their own way. They look at the covenant God has provided for our salvation and they pick and choose the things they want and then ignore the things they don’t want. This will never work. God’s gospel plan was designed to bring people into his likeness while forming one body that works in unison. When God brought Israel out of Egypt, he did it as one great body of people. Some of them complained and were lost. God intends to deliver Christians as one great body and those that do not conform will be left behind. Above all else we must keep our lives true to the covenant of our salvation and fellowship. Jesus Christ is our new covenant and we know a lot about him simply by learning his many names. Here are some examples, Advocate, Bread of life, Eternal Judge, King, Lord of all, Master, Redeemer, True Vine and etc. In fact, Jesus is referred to by more than 200 names in the New Testament.

We have a wonderful God who not only created us but then later revealed that he would rescue every one of His people who loved him. It makes sense that God said “I want you to show love” to Me because he first showed love to us. Today the people of this world can only know God as the “I AM” but if they approach God asking His help He will reveal the redemption plan to them. When we do love God, He expects us to honor the covenant that applies to us. Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. Deut 7:9-10 (NLT) We have a loving and faithful God who wants to rescue us from the destruction that we deserve. Our God is the great “I AM” and he wants to provide for our redemption through the Savior Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit as Lord of our daily life.

Above all else, seek God in the way he has provided.