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

This is a very popular verse telling us to put God first in our lives, but how many of us truly get to a point where we can say that we put God always first in our lives?

I always thought I put God first by reading my Bible, praying, going to church and thinking about Him when I am making decisions. The truth was that I was just doing what I thought I should be doing to follow God’s will but instead of following His will for my life, I was trying to fit Him in to my plans. It is one thing to consider God when making decisions but it is a whole different story to ask Him what one should do and then wait and not act until He gave an answer.

I have made many decisions where I thought it was God’s will for my life and since I have asked Him whether I was doing the right thing, everything should be fine. However, even though I asked Him what I should do, I did not always wait for His answer.  I would do whatever I thought was the right thing and hope God would bless it and make it part of His will for my life.

I realized, we cannot force God into our plans instead He will wait until we are ready to follow His plans.

To put God first in my life was not something I could do by myself. Life, sports, achievements, work, and my plans always found a way to take up all my time and God had to wait until I was finished before I would get to Him. I knew He would not get mad at me so I took that liberty and never gave Him the place in my life He deserved. The truth was that when I put Him first, He took care of all the other things in my life, with little effort on my side.

Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (ESV)

Giving God the throne of my life, does not mean making Him part of my life, but to put Him first in everything. He wants to be the first thing on my mind before I get up in the morning, before anything I do, in every decision I make. There should not be one aspect or detail of my life, where He is not the first thing on my mind.

When it comes to a decision I have to make, God should be my first point of reference. Instead of going to people and hear everyone’s opinion of what I should do, God wants me to come to Him so that He can show me. People’s opinions often leave us confused, but God as the Author of our lives, knows what is happening next, who better to ask what we should do?

God does not want us to come to Him out of obligation, but because we want to. He wants to have a personal and intimate relationship with us. He wants to give us an abundant life (John 10:10) but we cannot have it without Him. He needs to be our Shepherd to lead us into His paths of righteousness. We need Him to fill us with His love and purpose.

The more we move towards God, the more will we experience Him in our lives. He wants to be so close to us that He becomes part of all our thoughts. Through His presence, He wants to renew our minds (Romans 12:2) through the life-giving power of His Word.

We have the opportunity to live a life filled with love peace and joy—a destiny written by our Heavenly Father with a purpose already accomplished by Christ. We have only one thing left to do, choose to put God first…

How do I do that?

Make it your goal to have an intimate relationship with God.

Make a commitment to spend some time with God in His Word and just talking to Him.

Take Jesus with you throughout your day—getting ready for your day, going to work or school, attending meetings, spending time with people, doing sports, making decisions. Just see Him with you and you will start to experience His inputs in your life.

Pray and speak to God as much as you can. Instead of asking people for guidance, ask God, He already has all the answers.

Follow the advice God gave Abraham, “Walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete)” (Genesis 17:1, Amplified). We cannot do this out of ourselves but through the Holy Spirit doing it through us.

Remember, God knows us, He knows our shortcomings and that is why He gave us a Helper (the Holy Spirit) to follow His will. Do not get discouraged when you make mistakes, God never condemns us in Jesus (Romans 8:1). Always get up and start again one day at a time and you will bear the fruits through God’s grace.