Through GOOD times and bad

I'm making my way slowly through the Old Testament these days. I must admit that I had written off most of the Old Testament as unimportant and irrelevant because when Jesus came he proclaimed that the "old ways" did not apply anymore. My thinking was that if I knew Jesus and I knew what He stood for...well, then I didn't really need the rest.

In some ways, I was correct. I don't NEED the rest. I'm saved by Jesus and His love. Salvation is mine and I will go to heaven.
But I've discovered that I want to know more...even if it isn't necessary for me to have that knowledge. I want to know more, more, more about Jesus. In order to truly understand Jesus; I need to know the events that led up to His story. I need to know our story from the beginning. So now I'm on this journey through the beginning of the Bible.

I have to say, that I am surprised by the similarities to our world today. I expected to read this drab history that was not at all relevant to our lives today.
Boy! Was I wrong! Here's what I find:

People who only call out to God when times are tough and then go back to worshiping their own gods and idols after He comes in and rescues them.

Don't we all still do this? We don't call them "gods" or "idols"; because our view of a "gods" and "idols" is too narrow.

Lets redefine and idol:

Anything you worship AHEAD of God
Anything you make more important than God in your life
Anything you put more time and resources toward than you do to God

What are the "idols" and "gods" in your life?

I think if we are all honest; most of us struggle with this.
We make excuses why we:
- don't have the time
- don't have the energy
- don't have the resources
... to put God first.
And in doing so-- we are worshiping gods of "money", "sex", "power"...whatever that is that you are putting first in your life over Him.

Apparently...this is what we as a people have been doing to God since the very beginning of time. The better things are going for us; the further down the priority list God goes. Some of us live out our entire lives without ever making Him the number one priority in our life.

We are "too busy" to make time for the creator of our universe.
We have "better", "more important" things to do.

When we don't need Him, we forget Him.

How sad.

How disrespectful.

How tragic.

We as a people, since the beginning of time--have struggled with this.

We can't change history and we can't change others.
But we can change ourselves. We can impact the future generation of our own families.
We can make a stand and say that WE WILL PLACE GOD FIRST.
Not just in the bad times.
Not just when we want something from Him.
But EVERY SINGLE DAY.

What changes do you need to make in your life to do this?

I know I need to go back and reprioritize MY life and figure out what this looks like for me.

How about you?