Hi my name's Father Mike Schmitz
and this is Ascension Presents.
So, I was talking with this person a little while back,
and
I had asked them, so, is God in the center of your life
or is he more pushed to the sidelines of your life?
And the response was interesting. They said, "Well,
I think about God all the time.
I think about God when I'm driving in my car,
I think about God when I'm at work,
when I'm at home,
when I'm walking in the woods.
I think about God all the time."
And I think that's a great answer.
That is a great thing to do, to think about God wherever you are.
Super good!
If you're doing that, keep it up! Well done!
That wasn't the question.
The question was, "Is God in the center of your life
or is he on the sidelines of your life?"
Is God first in your life, is he the Lord of your life?
And now, someone had written in to Ascension Presents and they said,
"Well, how do I know if I'm making God first in my life?"
"How do I know if he's the Lord of my life?"
"What do I do? Are there any practical steps?"
And I would say, "Hmm ... Yes, there are!"
In fact, I might have said this before but I will say it again.
Look at three areas.
Three areas.
Three areas in my life.
One: My time. Two: My money. Three: My media.
And ask, "Is God first in these areas?"
Here's what I mean.
So back in the day
(and when I say "the day" I mean like Bible times and then when people lived out the Bible, so even now)
There's this thing called the first fruits.
We want to give God our first fruits.
So the first fruits of my crops,
the first fruits of my flocks,
the first fruits of my life, of my stuff.
The first thing I have to ask the question of is, "Do I give God the first fruits of my time?"
Now that doesn't necessarily mean I pray first thing in the day chronologically.
But what it does mean is that, that time that's dedicated just to God, just to prayer with God, is the first thing I schedule in my day;
that it's the most important thing.
It's called a "priority."
And I don't know if you knew this, but
It wasn't until a couple years ago, I would say between 50 and 150 (I can't remember exactly) years ago
"Priority" was always a singular word.
But, 50 to 150, I can't remember I read an article once, that said that priority became pluralized.
We call and talk about our "priorities".
But a "priority" is one thing
**laugh**
it's the thing that comes prior.
You cannot have multiple things that are all prior.
So, my priority becomes the time I spend with him.
That gets scheduled first, that was my first fruits of my time.
The second thing is the first fruits of my stuff.
Look back over your bank account.
Look back over how you spent your money.
In fact, because most people now don't use cash as much as they use their cards,
you can actually have a record, digitally, of all the stuff you spend money on,
all the things you buy.
And I do too.
And I get to look back over that record and say
"Wait. Does this look like the spending habits of a Christian, or is this the spending habits of someone who might not even know who Jesus is?"
Do I spend my money on things that go against God
or things that honor God?
The third thing is, what do I consume?
So I said media, but like what are the things that I'm taking in to myself?
What am I being, what am I forming my mind by?
So what are the T.V. shows, the movies, the music—what are the things that I'm like absorbing?
I look at what I consume.
Because St. Paul when he said this, he said:
"Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Do not conform yourself to this present world."
Do not conform yourself to the present age.
And if I just watched the movies and the T.V. shows and listen to music that everyone else is listening to and watching,
then my mind will be changed
to look like and think like everyone else's.
Now that doesn't mean you can't enjoy good movies, or good T.V. shows, or good songs.
What it does mean, is you have the kind of capacity and the intention to examine those entertainment sources
and say, "Is this good for me?"
Does this change my mind in a good way or does it conform my mind in a bad way?
St. Paul also says, he says,
"Whatever is good, whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is beautiful, think about these things."
Like watch these things, listen to these things!
How do I know if God is first in my life?
Do I give him the first fruits of my time?
How do I know if he's first?
Do I give him the first fruits of my stuff, my money?
How do I know he's first?
Do I prioritize what I consume?
Or do I just consume what everyone else consumes?
If I can answer these questions like, "Yes, oh, it's for the Lord!"
Then yeah, you're putting him first, keep moving forward.
If I can't, then start.
That's the thing about God's grace!
You see, it's new every single morning, His mercy is new every single morning.
And you can start today
to live your life with him first, today.
From all of us here at Ascension Presents,
my name's Father Mike.
God bless you ... today!
TODAY!