“Who’s first?”
In my experience, the answer depends entirely on what precedes the question. I’m instantly back in my public speaking course in college. If you’re like me, you’re petrified but prepared and you just want this over and done with so you sit in the front row and your hand goes up before the teaching assistant finishes the question. Or maybe you’re more like fourth grade me. You’ve memorized the Arbor Day poem assigned but the thought of quoting it in front of your twenty plus classmates makes you physically sick and you ask to go to the nurse. Once she speaks to your teacher, you’re allowed to come in during recess to recite it one on one. A lot can change in a decade. Even more in five.
My grandkids all visited on the fourth. Their moms and I took them to see my parents while their dads played golf with my husband. My dad’s final breeding pair of Labrador Retrievers sired what is likely their last litter of puppies seven weeks ago. They’ll get their shots at eight weeks and be ready to move to their forever homes. My dad wanted his great grandchildren to see the puppies at least one more time. As we arrived at my parent’s house, my dad was filling a small plastic kiddie pool with water for the grands to play in before letting them help bathe two of the pups.
Timothy and Ezra were understandably hesitant as the lab pups were half their height and playfully unpredictable. Also at one, the two younger grandsons were both a little unsteady on their feet on the gently sloped grass in my parents backyard. Thomas and Amelia on the other hand raced to be first to help soap up the wiggly pups.
For lunch, my dad cooked his famous even beyond our family Papa Brannen Burgers. He dressed them to order and wrapped them in wax paper sheets. When he asked who wanted the first of the kids sliders, Thomas quickly replied, “Me! Me first!”
Back at my house after dinner was an entirely different story. Since family dinner means it’s nearly bedtime when the meal ends, the babies get baths here before heading home. This way, if they fall asleep during the drive, they’re ready to tuck in for the night. Ezra finished eating first so I hoisted him onto my hip and headed to run the tub. Amelia wasn’t far behind but I could hear Thomas still in the kitchen already refusing a bath in true big boy fashion. After spending a large part of the day outdoors, skipping a bath was not an option.
We want what we want when we want it, an unfortunate side effect of human nature, especially in western culture. We don’t stop to ask why or why not. Impulsivity reigns. If asked what motivated our actions, good or bad, we’re apt to blame last nights sleep, a demanding spouse or supervisor, or missing a meal rather than our own thoughtlessness or oversight. It’s often difficult to know our own hearts, to see our own actions through the eyes of an outsider.
The Bible acts as a mirror to our souls. If we allow God’s Spirit free reign, He helps us to see ourselves in the stories of humans who lived thousands of years ago. I will always be tempted to apply truth to anyone else, but God’s Truth, often exposed in the triumph or waywardness of Biblical characters or nations is meant to expose my true nature, prompting repentance, and transforming me increasingly into the image of Christ Jesus.
“God has transmitted his very substance into every Scripture, for it is God-breathed.
It will empower you by its instruction and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness.”
2 Timothy 3:16 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/2ti.3.16.TPT
“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.
And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.3.18.NLT
“But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.”
1 Corinthians 6:17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.6.17.NLT
“For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”
Romans 8:16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.16.NLT
King Solomon and his father David ruled a united Israel. When Solomon’s son took the throne, true to God’s word, Israel rebelled and Judah became the southern kingdom, loyal to David’s line. Solomon’s great grandson and his son teach one of many valuable lessons to be found in the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah located in the Old Testament canon.
Asa’s rule began with ten years of peace. During those years, he built up Israel’s defenses, garnered troops, and pulled down shrines and altars to false gods, even deposing his grandmother as queen mother and destroying her personal shrine. When opposition arose, he sought the Lord first.
“Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord his God.”
2 Chronicles 14:2 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ch.14.2.NLT
“Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God,
“O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty!
Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone.
It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde.
O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!”
So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled.”
2 Chronicles 14:11-12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ch.14.11-12.NLT
Later in his reign, even after witnessing such a miraculous victory, he emptied his coffers and the Lord’s temple to bribe an enemy king to turn on Israel. To add insult to injury, he imprisoned God’s prophet who was sent to inform him of God’s displeasure and further refused to consult God in the illness that led to his death. He had seen God’s faithfulness firsthand yet in the final accounting, his faith gave way.
Enter Asa’s son, Jehoshaphat, fifth from Solomon, who walked in his father’s earlier ways, the ways of his ancestor, David.
“His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord.
He was deeply committed to
the ways of the Lord.
He took pride in serving the Lord and his heart was committed to living the way the Lord wanted him to.
And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.
In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram.
And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them.
They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.”
2 Chronicles 17:6-9 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/2ch.17.6-7.ESV
Jehoshaphat’s reverence for the Word of the Lord was the foundation for his deep commitment to the way of the Lord. God’s word compares kings either with their wayward predecessors or with their ancestor David, a man after God’s own heart. The former consistently chose their own way while the latter consistently chose God’s way, either by seeking the Lord or by accepting God’s chastening through the prophets and responding in ultimate obedience. I have often prayed lines from Jehoshaphat’s prayer found in II Chronicles 20:12. “We don’t know what to do, Lord, but our eyes are on You.”
Surrendered obedience over the long haul takes many different forms but it ultimately bows to only One. The truest test of my faith is the integrity of its foundation.
“For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’
There is salvation in no one else!
God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.””
Acts of the Apostles 4:11-12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.4.11-12.NLT
“Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.”
Ephesians 2:20-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.2.21.NLT
The testimony of the Father, the Spirit, and the only Son agrees.
“And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”
1 John 5:11-13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.5.13.NLT
“And one of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question to test him.
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””
Matthew 22:35-40 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.22.35-40.ESV
Jesus’s words are unavoidably practical. The Passion Translation puts a finer point on what it looks like to love God above all else.
“Jesus answered him, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’”
Matthew 22:37 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/mat.22.37.TPT
““Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars.
Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars.
It’s obvious, isn’t it?
The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
Matthew 6:19-21 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/mat.6.19-21.MSG
Instead, seek God’s kingdom first. Prioritize Him above all else.
“As you passionately seek his kingdom, above all else, he will supply your needs.
So don’t ever be afraid, dearest friends!
Your loving Father joyously gives you his kingdom with all its promises!
“Now, go and sell what you have and give to those in need; you will be making deposits in your account in heaven, an account that will never be taken from you.
Your gifts will become a secure and unfailing treasure, deposited in heaven forever.
Where you deposit your treasure, that is where you fix your thoughts—and your heart will long to be there also.””
Luke 12:31-34 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/luk.12.31-34.TPT
Where you fix your thoughts also determines how genuinely you pray as Jesus taught.
““Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/mat.6.9-13.AMP
Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.
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