Whose your Number 1?

Consolation prize, participation award, a "thank you for coming" card, whatever name you give these types of "awards", let's be honest-they all stink! If you have ever been in the competitive arena for sports or other activities did you go into it with the mindset of, "Wow, I hope I can earn that participation award again this year!" No!! If you are like just about every other human being that competes for anything your goal is to win, and not just win, but to be FIRST! That may seem like a callous way to look at competing for some of you and there are probably a handful of people who do compete to check something off their bucket list or they do it for the pure joy of proving something to themselves, but I think those folks are in the minority. Let's face it, being first feels good. No one wants to come in last in a game. What about the game of life? Not the actual board game, but the life that you and I are living right now? Do you ever feel like you always come in last? Or maybe you feel like you always get the "participation award" but never the first place trophy? I know how you feel. Life isn't always fair and with that there are going to seem like that there are always those people who are always winning at life and the same ones that never seem to win. What if I told you that it doesn't matter to God where in life you "place" yourself among others? God doesn't measure our worth by the same standards as this human world, thank goodness! The reason God does not do this is because of his son Jesus. I have been reading in the book of Colossians and I have noticed two things; 1.Jesus is (or should be) always in FIRST place, and 2.Work for the Lord, not people. If we look at our lives and we were asked to "rank" all that our lives consist of, I wonder how many of us would list Jesus as number 1? I know that I am guilty of not putting Him first all the time. Here is what it says in Colossians about this; "He (Jesus) is the head of the body, which is the church. Everything comes from Him. He is the first one who was raised from the dead(by God). So in ALL things Jesus has FIRST PLACE!" Colossians 1:18 Putting Jesus first is not always easy and he knows that. When Jesus walked this earth he encountered many who didn't believe who he was, but definitely did not put him first in their lives. For those of us that have children I think it can be especially hard to say that Jesus is first in our lives and then our children or families. But guess what? Jesus NEEDS to be first because he has control and offers the same grace and guidance and forgiveness to them just as he does to you. I feel much better knowing that Jesus holds ALL of us in the palm of his hands and not just me. I feel it is a partnership with him in caring for those that you love. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, but he is in the control room of our lives. So, giving up that control is a great way to start putting Jesus first. Is it easy? Of course not! But nothing worth while ever is. The second thing in Colossians that I noticed comes from Colossians 3:23-24, "In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people. Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people. You are serving the Lord Christ." Wow! Imagine that in everything we do, whether it is closing a multi-million dollar deal to doing laundry, everything we do we should be doing the best we can and working for the Lord. Whatever you give, give your best. Jesus does not want to be the consolation prize, the participation award or the "thank you for coming" in our lives. He wants to be number 1. He deserves to be number 1! He died for us, so that we may live. Jesus gave his all and gives us his best each and every second of each and every day. We are to do the same. We are to put Him first and give him our best because He wants others to see Him shining bright in our lives, He wants others to ask us, "Why do you still seem at peace when there is chaos all around?" And wouldn't it be awesome if we could answer with, "Because I know the One who can calm the storm and my hope is in Him." Blessings-Nicole

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