• Hi, I’m Brad Abare

  I'm a make-it-happen guy working with big idea people. I design teams and orchestrate strategy so that great ideas I believe in get done.
  
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I’m sharing some thoughts I’ve been mulling over in my head for staff devos tomorrow morning. My thesis is this:

It’s not that I don’t put God first, it’s that I don’t make everything else secondary.

We read in Exodus 20:3, the first of the ten commandments. “You shall have no other gods before (or besides) me.”

I looked up “gods” in the dictionary. One of the definitions that stood out to me was “one that is worshiped, idealized, or followed.” I then looked up the word “idealized” and found 1) A conception of something in its absolute perfection; 2) One that is regarded as a standard or model of perfection or excellence; 3) An ultimate object of endeavor; a goal; and 4) An honorable or worthy principle or aim.

It’s easy to think of all the things we should not put first and give ourselves a pat on the back for not doing that (immorality, greed, jealousy, etc.).

It’s not so easy to see all the good things we do – even God-things – as also needing to be put secondary to God (our family/spouse, friends, job, personal life, even the motions of devotions).

What can I do to make sure everything else is secondary to my relationship with God?

In 2 Chronicles 16:9 Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said “God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him. You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God’s help. Now you’re in trouble – one round of war after another.”

God searches for those who will make him their single desire, who will say like David in Psalm 16:5, “My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I’m your choice!”

I want God to be first place.

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