Time with God – Andrea Jennett
Growing up, one of my favourite songs was ‘Seek Ye First’ – I loved to sing this at Sunday School and Girls’ Brigade. It’s only as we journey through lift that we realise how important it is to put God first.
Almost 35 years ago, on my Wedding Day my Dad told us the best advice he could give us as we started out in our marriage, was taken from Matthew C6 V 33 and that was to “Seek First the Kingdom of God” – as we started out on this new journey we should always put God first.
Often we get swept up in the chaos of life, so many things can pull us in different directions and put our lives off balance. Fear and worry over our circumstances can consume us. However, in the midst of all the noise Jesus offers an answer that anchors our heart and guides our direction. We need to centre our lives around the only thing that matters – God’s Kingdom.
For me, and indeed all of us there is a two-fold challenge:
1. What are we seeking first in life? and…
2. Are we seeking God’s Kingdom and Righteousness above all else?
Often, we can get so distracted by other things in life (phones, TV, social media, work, family etc) and the temptation to do mindless things often kicks in, instead of connecting to God! As we approach the Christmas period, we can easily be distracted by commercialism when our focus should be on Jesus, the Reason for Season! We know this is not good and that we should be spending time in Prayer, Reading our Bible and not putting our energy into things that don’t matter. The Bible tells us that when we do these 2 things everything else will fall into place.
I am thankful and can be confident that God will meet our everyday needs as we focus on Him. He knows what we face each day and we can trust Him to provide. I can testify to the goodness of God in many situations in my life. Jesus gives us Hope… in the words of the BB verse “such hope we have as an Anchor for the soul, both Sure and Steadfast (Hebrews C6 V 19).
At BB, advancing Christ’s Kingdom in the lives of the boys is our aim – no boy will leave BB without knowing their need of Jesus and that they must put Him first in their life.
"Lord help us in this task and may Your will be done in our lives today!"
Written by Andrea Jennett
Officer at 1st Lurgan Boys' Brigade