First Things First; the Heart of the Matter
God doesn’t keep a running list of all the tasks we need to accomplish before the end of our lives. He’s not like Santa checking to see if we are naughty or nice based on what we do or don’t do, and he’s also not playing referee over our daily activities by keeping tabs on all our fouls and slip-ups.
God is concerned with our lives and does have a plan and a future prepared for us, including us ordinary folks, but it’s not wrapped up in what we do. We won’t all receive a call overseas, or start up a para-church ministry, and we may not even have the time to volunteer in church ministries, but with all that being said, it doesn’t mean we have no way of glorifying and serving God in our daily lives. It also doesn’t limit full-time ministry to that list either. Ministry by God’s people does not involve a rating scale of importance. That is fallacy number one we need to debunk.
God is clear throughout scripture that is doesn’t matter what kind of service you offer, or how much time you commit to service or even how much money you give to various organizations. His main concern starts with only one matter—Your Heart!
The greatest service we can ever offer to God is the sacrifice of our hearts. In daily life, this looks like giving God control of our jobs, relationships, children, cars, salaries, homes, collectibles, hobbies, and time. The word God uses to describe this sacrifice is obedience– obedience to his will over all these areas. This may mean assessing whether the things we have, do, and spend are aligned with his Word and worthy of his glory.
So where does evangelism, discipleship, teaching the Bible, and, you know, “real ministry” fit in this devoted heart business? In all honesty, we can’t begin discussing that because none of that matters if our heart is not first and foremost wholly devoted to God. That is what I love about the story of King David. His life was riddled with scandal, murder, mistakes, and brokenness, but he’s remembered as a man who wholly loved God. God even called him his beloved. God liked David. This should be our first desire—to be wholly loved and liked by God because we are solely devoted to him and not concerned with what we can do for him, rather we allow him to do what he wills through us. This sounds absolutely freeing to me! This is the first place to start.
After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
Acts 13:22
What D
In the blog post, I Want to be Extraordinary, I put forward the question; what does God want from us? I responded from Micah 6:8. This is where God addresses the Israelites, and us as individuals, with a rhetorical question: He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness (mercy), and to walk humbly with your God?
I see this verse used a lot today in various circles, primarily motivating people to serve in areas of social justice, but I want to look deeper into this verse because it is more than justice we should seek. Firstly, God deserves and expects our hearts. Like King David, we should seek God’s heart. I don’t think that is too much to ask of us ordinary people.
So before we consider what we can be doing, let’s spend time looking over our life to see if God is our number one priority. Can we be called a person after God’s own heart? Are we wholly devoted to him; the relationship? These are tough questions we all need to stop and ask ourselves from time-to-time as it’s easy to lose sight of what is first required.
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