God revealed almost everything he wants from us in the First Commandment: I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:2-3). When Jesus was asked to summarize the entire Law he said: “Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

God’s will is actually pretty simple: Love God, love people.

God wants to be loved above all else in your life. He reminds us of this many times in Scripture. In Joshua, he said, “Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped…” (Joshua 24:14). Through Elijah he said, “If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (1 Kings 18:12). Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters… you cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24).

God’s people have always faced a choice: put God first, or something else.

Since its inception, New Song Church’s mission has always been to help unchurched people become fully devoted followers of Christ. The term “fully devoted” comes from 1 Kings 11:4. “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.”

Solomon had chosen to love his wives, and their gods, more than God himself. Dire consequences followed (1 Kings 12 – the kingdom split).

Life is filled with flashy objects competing for our attention. Achievements, beauty, adventure, money, sex and power all whisper, “I’ll make you happy!” and, “People will like you if you follow me!” Solomon experimented with all of these and then concluded after his folly, “Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2), because nothing ultimately satisfies like following God and his Son, Jesus.

So, how do you put Jesus first and keep him there?

Very simple: You make a choice. You choose him over all other options. Then, as the options come, you give them up so they will not compete for first place in your life, like Solomon’s wives did in his.

This is why New Song’s number one DNA statement is, We are a Jesus-First Church. We give up things we love for the One we love even more.

What’s competing for first place in your life today? Open your hands and give it to God in prayer.