Ever buy a record album where it’s all the artist’s number one hits? It’s a win for the buyer because every song was a chart topper making it to the number one slot in a particular week. It’s better than buying an album with 2 great songs and 9 songs that you really prefer to skip.
God wants to be number one in your life. That’s really hard in our modern world where many things compete for your attention. We’ve got smartphones with social media, podcasts, shopping, internet and text messaging. That’s a big time suck. It can become our number one if we let it. Ever see people at a restaurant be obsessed with their phones ignoring the person they went to the restaurant with? That’s when you have an idol. You know how God feels about that.
Sometimes possessions are idols. We spend so much time taking care of our possessions and don’t spend enough time tending to the eternal relationship that we are supposed to be building our life on. If a house or a garden or a car do that, it’s time to do something about it.
Sometimes people can be our idols. We invest too much energy in pleasing them and miss the ones that God sends to us. We have to be leaning on the Spirit always so we don’t miss that catch. Also, it’s important to say no to many things. That’s not popular in our society. I said no to some people because I felt that ministry was more important. God honored that decision and blessed me for it.
Even ministry can be our idol. God has called you to a particular ministry. I knew someone at work who had a side gig that interfered in her day job. It just didn’t work out for her. You can’t serve two masters. In the same way, you can’t be devoted to two ministries at your church and do them both well. You can’t be both the music minister and the youth leader. One person can’t do it all. If your time is devoted to two jobs in the kingdom, you’re going to need supernatural help to do them both well. But really, you should leave one ministry and let someone else fill that role. When you step aside you see a new leader birthed.
There can’t be two number ones in your life: one God and one ministry. A person can be gifted with multiple gifts for use in a ministry though. But in the body of Christ we are meant to work as a team. If you belong to a small church, get involved in service. Ask what you can do. Pitch in so that other people aren’t pulling a way too heavy load. You might find that the very thing you are gifted at is a skill that is needed by your church. This is especially important for church plants.
So, what are you going to do? It’s time to prune away commitments and give God the opportunity to use you in what He called you to.
Following Jesus 