Honor God First!

Yesterday, I introduced you to Solomon, one of the legendary rulers from Israel, and his struggle with contentment. Today, we pick that story up again, as we can learn a lot from Solomon’s life.

There is a piece of history that said that everything Solomon touched did not turn to gold because it already was gold! He had it all and yet, his life was empty. Why? Simple answer, he didn’t do what God asked him to do. God wrote out the standards for a King in Deuteronomy and yet Solomon disobeyed, and it left him empty. Solomon made many left turns when he should have turned right.  

II Chronicles 9 says that Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses. Some of you are wondering, “What’s wrong with that—he loves horses!”  There is nothing wrong unless you read the directives for a King of God’s people in Deuteronomy 17:16 NIV, which says, “The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself.”   

1 Kings 11 says that Solomon had 700 wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, yet Deuteronomy 17:17 says, “He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.”  Can I point something out here? Solomon was financially wealthy but poor in his heart because he invested in the wrong kind of value.  

friend, what was true for Solomon thousands of years ago is true for you and me today! I want to specifically show you from the Bible what God is asking of us to avoid sinking into the same pattern.

friend, we are told to honor God first!

“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops, then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9, NIV)

Give God our first fruits—the best we have. I looked back over my week and I was ashamed to see how I fit God into the cracks of my life. I gave my leftover time, my leftover energy, my last minute preparations and my spare change. This was NOT right! God deserves the first parts of my entire life!

I have been honored to teach a class about stewardship many times. After one class, a man walked up to me and asked, “Do you give God the first part of your income?” I said “yes.” He asked, “Why?” Then, there was a long pause. My answer was not very insightful: “Well, because.” I’ve thought about that question a lot: Why do I give back to God? Here is what I came up with:

• I give back out of gratitude—it’s my way of saying thank you for His blessing

• I am generous as a demonstration to myself that I believe God holds my tomorrow—it’s an act of faith.

• I give my money back to its rightful Owner because I want to be obedient—God said that to obey was better than sacrifice.

• I give back to keep my priorities straight—Jesus first. God in the number one position

• I give because I know that whatever I offer back to God is being used to touch people’s lives—period. I don’t give to get blessed—I already am blessed. 

friend, this is the only place in scripture where God, the Creator, invites man, the creature, to test Him. God says that if we will take Him at His Word that we will be rewarded for obedience. Now, some people mistakenly say that the blessing comes back in the same form that it was given. Not true. God rewards in many ways—peace, joy, gratitude or just the simple satisfaction in knowing that God knows what you did and that you made Him smile.  

friend, put God first today, and see what happens!

You are a miracle!