The Bible begins with the account of the creation. God created the heavens and the earth by the power of His word. The Hebrew word for “beginning” is rēʾshît and means “first in place, time, order, or rank” (Strong). In Genesis 1:1, time is under consideration, but when it comes to our lives, God should be first in place, time, order, and rank.
When it is time for us to make decisions in our lives, God should be first. Our first thought should always be what is the will of God? As Christians, we must make pleasing God more important than anything else. Our Savior gives us an example of this. In reference to His Father, Jesus said, “I always do the things that are pleasing to Him” (John 8:29). Notice our Lord’s consistency here. He did not do what was pleasing to God once in a while, but always. Of course, He was without sin; so, His statement was literally true.
Do you consistently do what is pleasing to God? Considering the will of God first in our decision-making progress will help us with this. When we consider the will of God at the beginning of our decision-making, we will avoid doing things that are not right in His eyes. To do this, we must develop a strong desire to do God’s will. That was the key to our Savior’s living.
John 4:34 (ESV)
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
When it is time for talk, God should be first. Our words might be the biggest threat to the salvation of our souls. How many of us speak without thinking sometimes? If we are being honest with ourselves, we would probably all acknowledge that we do so, at least once in a while. The problem is we are responsible for anything that comes out of our mouths.
Matthew 12:36-37 (ESV)
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Knowing the danger of having a careless tongue, we should be mindful of God at the beginning of all of our conversations. We should ask ourselves if what we are about to say, or the conversation that we are about to have, is going to be pleasing to our heavenly Father. If we stop long enough to consider how our words will make God feel, we might avoid saying things that will condemn us on the day of judgment. Let us not wait until after we have allowed some unseemly words to escape our mouth to consider God; let us consider God in the beginning.
When it is time for doing, God should be first. It is one thing to think about God’s will before we act, and another for our deeds to actually be within the bounds of God’s will. One might think of God’s will first, but then allow his or her own will to supersede God’s. Jesus was able to remain in the will of His Father by purposely submitting His own will to His Father’s.
Matthew 26:39 (ESV)
39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
We must do the same thing. Let us make God the beginning of all that we do. If we can say that “In the beginning, God” describes the pattern of our lives, we know we are in good shape.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.