Jesus First: Surrendering to the One Who Holds First Place

What is the one thing that drives everything in your life?

It is a question worth sitting with, because the honest answer reveals more about us than we might be comfortable admitting. For most of us, the answer shifts depending on the season. Career. Family. Financial security. Comfort. Reputation. The list is long, and none of those things are inherently evil. But when any of them moves into the position that belongs to God alone, something in our lives quietly begins to unravel.

The ancient words of Matthew 6:33 cut through the noise with remarkable clarity. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. That word "first" is not merely about sequence. It is about preeminence. It is about supremacy. Jesus is not asking to be one item near the top of your priority list. He is declaring that he is first over everything, not simply first in a lineup.

That distinction matters more than it might initially seem.

The Question That Started It All

In Mark chapter 12, a scribe approaches Jesus with a question that had been debated among religious scholars for generations. Out of more than six hundred commandments that Jewish people were expected to observe, which one was the most important? Which one should take priority above all others?

Jesus answers by quoting the Shema, the most sacred passage of Scripture for the Jewish people, found in Deuteronomy 6. He begins not with a command but with a theological declaration: the Lord your God is one. Only after establishing the nature of God does he give the command that flows from it. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

This order is not accidental. The commands of God flow from the nature of God. What we are called to do is always rooted in who he is. Before Jesus tells us how to live, he reminds us who we are living for.

He Is Already First

Here is something that can quietly reshape the way you approach your faith. We do not make Jesus first. He already is first. What we are doing when we surrender our lives, our finances, our time, and our affections to him is not elevating him to a position he has not yet occupied. We are simply acknowledging the position he has always held.

The name "Lord," used throughout the New Testament to describe Jesus, carries extraordinary weight. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the sacred covenant name of God, Yahweh, was rendered as "kurios," the same word the New Testament writers used when they called Jesus Lord. When Thomas, after witnessing the risen Christ, fell before him and declared "My Lord and my God" in John 20:28, he was not speaking loosely. He was recognizing Jesus as the one true and living God revealed in human flesh. And Jesus did not correct him. He received that declaration.

Paul echoes this in Romans 10:9 and 13, connecting the confession that "Jesus is Lord" to the Old Testament promise in Joel that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved. The thread runs all the way through Scripture: Jesus is not a great teacher among many great teachers. He is not the highest priority on a list of priorities. He is Yahweh. He is the one true and living God. He is preeminent in his position, and therefore he must be preeminent in our devotion.

Why Obligation Will Never Be Enough

Knowing this theologically and living it out daily are two very different things. The scribe in Mark 12 understood the Shema. He agreed with Jesus wholeheartedly. And yet Jesus looked at him and said, "You are not far from the kingdom." Close, but not in. Comprehension without transformation.

The history of God's people is filled with this tension. They knew the words. They recited the Shema. And still they gave their hearts to idols, to the gods of surrounding nations, to the things of this world that promised satisfaction but never delivered.

Here is why: you cannot manufacture devotion to God through sheer willpower or religious discipline. Loving God with everything you have does not start with you. It starts with him.
First John 4:10 makes this plain. Love is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Verse 19 follows with one of the simplest and most profound statements in all of Scripture: we love because he first loved us.

This is the sequence that changes everything. God did not wait for you to clean up your life before he acted on your behalf. Romans 5:8 reminds us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The version of yourself you are most ashamed of is the person Jesus died for. His love is not a reward for the righteous. It is a rescue for the lost.

When that reality lands in your heart, obligation gives way to response. You do not go to church because you have to. You do not give because it is required. You do not pursue the mission of God because membership demands it. You do all of it because you have been loved at the deepest possible level, and love like that demands a response.

Bringing Your First and Best

Because Jesus gave first and gave best, the natural overflow of a life shaped by the gospel is generosity in every direction. First and best of your time. First and best of your gifts. First and best of your finances. First and best of your attention and energy and love.

And the second commandment, loving your neighbor as yourself, flows directly from the first. When the love of God takes root in you, it produces love for the people God loves. It sends you to the nations. It moves you toward the vulnerable. It opens your hands to those in need.

So here is the question worth carrying with you this week: what is competing for first place in your life?

Sit with it. Bring it before the Lord. And do whatever he says.