Today it seems like all I can think about is that there is nothing else to worry or be concerned about except God alone. It all comes down to the act that if our relationship with God is our first priority, all else will work out OK, even if it doesn't. While that might seem not to make sense, it really does.
We must hold fast to the Word of God, and the Living Word, Jesus. I have so much experience in NOT doing this, I am an expert. I have made other things more important, things like work responsibilities, personal issues, physical exercise, relationships, whatever. But it becomes more and more clear that if I don't keep y focus on the Lord, and do so in a real tangible way each day, I begin to fall away from Him ever so slightly, slipping a tiny bit more each day, until I am lost, confused, terrified, and floundering in a sea of self-centered misery. I can't let that happen, but it requires some discipline to do the things that keep me close to Him. Please note that I am not saying that we can somehow DO THINGS that earn us our salvation. No, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. But in order to remain attached to Him, as he says in John 15, like branches to the true Vine, we must do things that keep us attached to Him. Reading His Word is like taking in the best nutrition there is. As it says in Deuteronomy 8:2-3 -- 2 You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you [a]understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
So often in the Old Testament, people turned from the true God and set up idols made of silver or gold or wood and worshipped them. This made God really angry and He punished His people Israel when they would do this. They knew better! But our natural inclination is toward sin. That is a hard chunk of truth to swallow, since the world tells us we are really good people down inside. Not true. Scripture tells us in many places that our hearts are desperately wicked and inclined toward evil (Jeremiah 17:9-?) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jeremiah%2017&version=NASB
We can't even tell when our own hearts are being deceitful. We must rely on the Lord to show us our hearts' condition. He can only do this through prayer and study of scripture. His Word cuts through the garbage and pierces us in ways that nothing else can. It is like washing us from the inside, making us clean, and showing us Truth so that we can know what is false in comparison.
My own plans don't work. I need to lay it all down and submit to the Lord. My plans, schemes, attempts to live this life in a nice neat little box where everything works the way I want it to... I must lay it all down. My eternal life is what matters, and I need to give my focus to my eternal life, not this life on earth, which will be over before I know it. God alone matters! I will surely regret spending time on the false gods of this world around me. God is so right in His commandments. The first ones all have to do with honoring Him and Him alone... I don't probably have the words right, but it says to love the Lord and not have any false gods of any sort, and honor His name by never using it wrongfully, and honoring Him by honoring the Sabbath.
Focusing on myself leads to misery, while focusing on the Lord leads to joy! Isaiah 26:3 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%2026&version=KJV
And here is one of my favorite songs reminding me of what/Who is important today, and every day! May you put Him first today!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k8vADchMmM
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