Who or What Comes First?

I’m currently attending a Bible study on Genesis.  During the Lecture portion of our meeting, the lady giving the lecture made a statement that has really left an impression on me.  She was talking about how God was there in the beginning – before the world was created.  Her point was this:  God is first – he was first in the beginning and therefore he should always be first in our lives.

The funny thing is (and this tends to happen a lot) that this idea ties in with a book I just read called Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller.  I’m amazed at how often God will speak to me at Bible study about a certain idea and it will surface again in another area of my life.  And then I realize it’s a point he really wants to get across to me!

Anyway, Counterfeit Gods is all about idols.  The main ones Keller discusses are love, money, success and power and gives examples in the stories about Jacob, Zacchaeus, Naaman, and Nebuchadnezzar.

Idols are easy to identify in our culture, but Keller goes one step further and discusses the idols in our hearts.  When we think of idolatry, many of us think of the stories in the Bible where men bowed down before man-made statues.  But in Ezekiel 14:3, God says “These men have set up idols in their hearts…”

Keller says that anything can be an idol…even good things.  “An idol is something we look to for things that only God can give.” (significance and security, safety and fulfillment)  Looking to someone or something else first to meet our needs instead of God is idolatry.  Unfortunately, due to the nature of the human heart, this can be quite easy to do.

So this got me thinking…am I really putting God first in my life?  Yes, in certain situations, God comes first.  But I need help!  There are things I tend to put before him.  And sadly, I don’t spend nearly as much time with him each day as I would like to. I am asking God and he is showing me the areas that I need to work on.

However, we all have idols and it will be a struggle as long as we are on this earth.  We must continually identify what those things are and replace them with God and his grace.  That is the only thing that will truly give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment.  Anything else, as Keller says, is a “God-alternative or counterfeit god.”

So I leave you with this thought…Who or what comes first?

Have a blessed weekend,

Melissa