Put the Lord First

I will be forever grateful to a lady by the name of Gertha Alston. Why? Because she said something to me before I obeyed the Gospel that still resonates in my ear when we are discussing certain passages of Scripture.  Without going into the word-for-word, she said to make sure that the person you are interested in puts the Lord first.

I thought about this again, not just in the context she addressed (which would only make perfect sense that a faithful Christian would look first at the spiritual personality as a primary consideration for a mate), and then put some other things we think/do that should demand the same conscientiousness:

  1. Do I think of my responsibility to the Lord when considering a job? Will it interfere?
  2. Do I think of the Lord first when considering my vacations? Do I make sure that I will be able to worship with sound congregations and not just whoever is available?
  3. Is God first when I look for a place to live (or relocate), or does the place and salary determine what I do?
  4. Am I often too sick for worship or Bible class, but up bright and early for work the next day?
  5. Are my best friends strong Christians or are they in the weak and non-Christian category?

You could easily add more, but the point is hard to miss. Mrs. Alston spoke of the importance of putting the Lord and church first, and we have certainly seen how the Lord emphasized that many times.

Johnny Oxendine

What About the Hen?

Sometime back some young fellow objected to the biblical account of creation, and informed an aged sister that he no longer accepted the Bible as true; he no longer believed in heaven; he had come to the conclusion that all matters are the result of evolutionary processes. This sister said to him that while she lacked his education opportunities, she would like to ask him a question or two: Would he please explain to her, which came first, the hen, or the egg? He thought about it a moment, smiled at such an easy question, and said that anybody ought to know that the hen was first. Of course, the hen was first. She said to him,

"Well, would you please tell me where that first hen came from, since, according to your own view, it didn't grow up from a chicken, and was not hatched from an egg? How do you account for the origin of that first hen?"

His brow knitted in perplexity; and he said that he had decided his first answer was a bit hasty; he hadn't given proper attention tot he question; had not thought it through. He felt sure now that, undoubtedly, the egg was first! Yes, certainly the egg was first. She said, "Do you mean to tell me that there was once a hen egg without a hen to lay it?" Then in his confusion, she said this to him:

"You can't even explain to me the mere existence of a hen without a God, and yet you expect me to believe in the universe without Him." 

Guy N. Woods