Keep God First

1 John 5:21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
 
TO close this letter to the church, John offers a loving reminder to keep God above all things.  
    “To keep” is to safeguard, to protect and to preserve. Keeping from idols is to safeguard God’s place in your heart, your home and your church. Safe in Christ, you are kept in the Father’s protection. On your way to heaven, you are to keep the Holy Trinity above all. This is for your blessing and God’s glory. The more you keep Jesus close to you, the more easily people will see and know the Father.
    Jesus urges you to keep God foremost with your words and habits: Matthew 5:33b “Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.” God despises hypocrisy. A confession of Christ must match your habits. Are you keeping the vows you spoke at your marriage, at joining the church and at the confession of faith in God?
    Jesus commands you to keep God’s eternal life in mind as you faithfully wait for him: Matthew 24:42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”  Are you keeping your eternal life foremost in your mind? You know, don’t you, this is your most precious possession? Are you helping others keep watch in expectation of standing before God one day? Are you considering the account God keeps of your life?
    Jesus also sets an example to help you firmly keep toward your purpose with him: Luke 13:33 “In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day – for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!” Consider, Jesus kept to his mission to keep you from hell.
    Are you staying on the path God leads you, even though it is perhaps difficult, sacrificial living? That’s what Jesus did and what he urges you to do: John 12:25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  
    Yes, to keep from idols is a great challenge. You will keep your faith when you keep God’s Word, grace, gift, sacrifice and power on your mind.  
     
 
Life Thought: Keeping God above idols is the way to keep all other things in their proper place.