December 4 - You First

Read: Acts 3:11-26

God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness. (Acts 3:26 ESV)

Peter didn't pull any punches during his first sermon. He was letting them have it. Both barrels. He recounted the mission of Christ, the life of Christ, the heritage, and the qualification. He turned their murderous actions around on them.

"Jesus was sent to you first!" he declared.

He was not wrong. Jesus showed up in the Judea wilderness performing miracles and preaching repentance. He went to God's people, the Jews, first. Many followed him, while many more rejected him outright.

What if Jesus had come to you first? How do you think you would have responded? How we respond to others now is a direct reflection of our belief about Jesus. Let's strive to serve Jesus by serving each other.

April 25 - Hide & Seek

Read: Matthew 6:31-34

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 ESV)

I loved playing Hide and Seek as a kid. My brother, cousins, and myself used to run around all over the mountains where my grandparents lived playing games of this sort. Of course, the best part was always finding someone.

Unfortunately, I think many of us have this idea that God has hidden away a lot of really important things. So, instead of spending our time trying to draw nearer to the Father, we ironically, and tragically, reject Him in an attempt to uncover all of the things we unconsciously think He must have hid from us.

Jesus told his disciples that this is a completely backward way of living. He taught that if you really want to find any kind of meaningful fulfillment in life you must seek God and his righteousness first. Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness may sound like a dual pursuit, but its actually not. Jesus wasn't talking about to two separate things, he was reemphasizing the same thing.

Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness has nothing to do with pursuing our own righteousness. It has nothing to do with attempting to fill our wish lists. Seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness is about seeking Jesus. To come into all the added things first requires actually wanting Jesus more. As you pursue Jesus, as you become more like the person he wants you to be, your life will take shape in a way that God will then be able to trust you with all of the things that might have distracted you had He given them to you first.

April 22 - Treasure

Read: Matthew 6:19-21

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21 ESV)

Just the idea of treasure is pretty cool. It makes me think of rare valuables of unimaginable worth. Sparkly shiny things tucked away in secret chests hidden away behind maps, traps, and adventure. It also elicits visions of priceless artifacts put on display in public places by people who wish to share their treasure with the world. Treasure is awesome. Jesus' concept of treasure painted an even better word picture. He defined treasure as something of value. Treasure as he taught it, was something of extreme importance. Treasure was and is whatever you put your heart into.

What you value matters. What you value shapes your hobbies, decisions, and ethics. What you value is your treasure, and your treasure is your values. How important you deem something to be gauges your willingness to invest in it. It determines your perception of its worth. Something perceived to be of high value is handled with care and respect. Something considered frivolous or unworthy is disregarded, neglected, or abused.

We make decisions about our treasure every day. Sometimes we share it. Often we hoard. Sometimes we decide people are treasured, and other times we see them as having no value at all. My prayer is that Jesus would help me daily to value things as he does. I want my heart to be where his is. I want my treasure to be the same. I have such a long way to go to get there.

January 23 - A Place for Jesus

Read: Luke 2:1-19

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7 ESV)

Jesus is often heralded as the King of Kings. In fact, it is among the titles listed for him in the Bible. The manner of his birth however, was anything but kingly. He was born to poor peasant parents from a rural village with a humble heritage. He was birthed in what probably amounted to a small cave because there was no room left for hospitality among the people of Bethlehem.

It was standard practice among the Jews to offer great hospitality to travelers. If someone came to your home needing a place to stay, eat, or rest, it was normal to provide those amenities. The problem in the birth story of Christ is that there were so many people traveling to Bethlehem to take part in a census declared by the government.

I wonder, if Jesus came to us today would we treat him this way? Would we be forced to hand him just the leftovers because we already divvied up the best parts for those we deemed more worthy, or important. Is there a place for Jesus in our lives?