Going all in for God

Greetings:

In the card game Poker, when you declare 'all in' you are doing just that. You are wagering all of your available chips on the stock or worth of a particular hand.

You are betting on your hand to be better than anyone else's hand that is sitting around the table in confident hope of winning the 'pot' or the prize of the game.

In our Christian walk, are we 'all in' for God?

Is God first and foremost in our lives?

I read a quote last night and I don't know its origin, but it says, “Following Christ isn't something that can be done half-heartedly or on the side. It's not a label we can display when it's useful. It must be central to everything we do and are.”

In Matthew 6:33 there is a familiar scripture that says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”

When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the some of the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. “

It says “Seek first the kingdom of God.”

Do we seek the kingdom of God first?

The great concern of many is our own personal lives, not the kingdom of God.

Jesus reversed the order by telling us to get the right relationship with God first, maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives, and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.

It does make sense.

If there is any hope for nation and the nations around the globe, it will be found in families turning back to God.

I hear many Christians say America needs to return to God. I hear many Christians lament that America no longer gives God His rightful place in our government or in our schools, but what are we doing about it?

I am concerned for Christian families today because I see a disconnect between what we say and what we do. The evidence of what we really believe is revealed in what we do and do not do.

Do you recall those first tender moments after your new born child arrived?

Do you remember holding the small vulnerable frame for the baby against your proud chest?

Do you remember caressing the soft skin and breathing in the fresh scent of baby powder?

Fast-forward a few years. The baby powder smell is gone. And, under normal circumstances, our expectations have changed. We continue love the child without condition. But we want them to do more than receive our love. We also want them to give theirs.

Like a helpless infant, we can do nothing to earn God’s favor. But that doesn’t mean we limit ourselves to passively basking in His tender, loving care. Like every good parent, God expects His children to grow up.

In Mark 12:30,  Jesus, when asked to identify God’s greatest commandment, quoted an ancient Hebrew text and said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

In John 14:15 Jesus, connected the dots between loving and doing when He said.

We read, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

Jesus did teach that His disciples must make their relationship with God the dominating focus of his life, and to be cautiously carefree about everything else in comparison to that. In essence, Jesus was saying, be focuse

d absolutely on God.

To seek the kingdom of God first is to desire to know God’s will and do it –– to seek God concerning your job, business, career choice, marriage or friends.

How many of you wish you could go back in time and seize the opportunity of wise counsel years ago to seek God’s first?

Do we give God the first hours of our day, worship Him, sing praises, talk to Him, read the Bible?

Do we wake up with God on our mind?

The benefit of being 'all in' for God is that He directs our path and we respond to His leading.

When our priorities are right, God is able to opens doors that no one can shut. Are we 'all in' for God?

Be blessed.