Crossroads Community Church – The Necessity of Future Mindeness

May 20, 2016 · 0 Comments

Pastor Don opened in prayer, humbly praising God as the creator and sustainer of all things; our past, present and future: praying we remember to keep our Lord as our number one priority, even in the face of deceitful temptation; asking our Lord Jesus to guide us in being more Christ-like as we walk the path chosen for us, placing God’s will above our own.

As the world seems to spin out of control, we can easily forget our priorities.

Studying “The Necessity of Future Mindedness – Our Priorities”, Deuteronomy 5:1-7 we learn God’s first priority is, “You must not have any other god but ME.”

Today’s society, in general, build their lives around things other than the one true God.

The main focus of everyone should be to give Glory and Honour to our Lord and Saviour.

If you feel you need to re-prioritize and put God first, follow the subsequent steps: recognize where you are in life; renounce the tangible, unworthy, substitute god; repent; restructure your priorities so pleasing God is your motive for everything you do; examine yourself every day to ensure God is first.

“To do” lists are things we all do to prioritize the importance of day to day activities. Unfortunately, the subconscious need to, maybe, work overtime to pay bills and complete the rest of the list, supersedes family time.

The dictionary defines priority as, “the state of having the most importance …” Jesus gives us the answer in Matthew 6:33. God must be THE priority, not one of the priorities.

We are going to study King David, a man who held God as a priority, lost sight of Him and then regained God as the number one priority. Scripture says in Acts 13:22 how God replaced Saul with David as King. The confusion of life can cause us to lose sight of what is really important and, once that happens, our lives will begin to unravel. The only way to have the best possible life is placing our relationship with God, first. Knowing this is one thing but committing to it may cause a struggle in front of co-workers, family and friends.

Let’s go back to reviewing the life of David who replaced King Saul. 1 Samuel 16:1 tells Samuel the Prophet to find a son of Jesse who lives in Bethlehem. What is interesting is the first seven sons presented were bigger, stronger and more experienced but were rejected by the Lord.

1 Samuel 16:17 illustrates the Lord looking beneath outward appearances and seeing only what is in the heart. God judges faith and character and is accurate because He looks inside each of us. David was chosen based not on his appearance but because his heart was right with God.

The oil Samuel used to anoint David stood for holiness, setting people and things apart for the service of God. David was successful in all he did because he had made his First Priority, his relationship with God; he knew God was with him.

We all know the story of how the young boy David won the battle against the giant Goliath. He did so because of the confidence he had in the Lord. 1 Samuel 17:45. Eight times in 1st and 2nd Samuel we read how David inquired of the Lord before each battle whether or not he should pursue his enemy.

David put God first and was blessed. We see this again in the many times David escapes Saul’s attempts to kill him. 1 Samuel 18:7

As we continue to read about David in the scriptures, we begin to notice David inquiring of the Lord less. 2 Samuel 11:2-4 illustrates David falling away from God when he turns his eyes on Bethsheba, the beautiful wife of Uriah.

As David focused on his own desires, he chose to follow temptation, rather than electing to turn away and look back on God. David had every opportunity to stop. But just like a toboggan ride down the hill, it is easier to stop before you pick up momentum.

The best solution is to stop sin before it starts and that means placing your relationship with God as your first priority. Always inquire of the Lord, “Is this the path you want me to take Lord?” If you are unsure, have Christian friends pray with you. James 1:14-16

We can question why Bethsheba was bathing where David could see her. But if David had inquired of the Lord as to the path he should take, do you think God would have sent messengers to get Bethsheba for David to sleep with her? Of course not. So, it is from this point David’s life spins out of control.

Verse 5 explains when Bethsheba tells David she is pregnant with his child, David tries to cover it up by instructing Joab to have her husband Uriah killed. How could a man after God’s own heart do this? He did it because he had failed to put God first.

We have all heard of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But have you heard of the unholy trinity: me, myself and I? David fell into this trap. Here is a man who loved the Lord, had walked closely with the Lord, begin to slip away. Have we ever done this? Do we ever get distracted at home; with work; with friends; or a host of other reasons? God becomes less and less our priority. We need to work at keeping God as our top priority every day.

Our second priority needs to be our relationship with our family. But, again if we put our family relationship ahead of God, we will have problems in the family. If we put work ahead of family, we will have problems in the family. It is easy to become unbalanced. But as long as we commit our lives to the Lord it is easier to maintain our priorities.

David’s sins took him away from God but repentance brought him back. 2 Samuel 12:13 Repent to God with anything and you will be forgiven. Romans 3:23 God is in control and His priorities take precedence over ours. Life is short and we must choose to keep our priorities straight and live by them. May the Holy Spirit anoint these words. AMEN.