FIRST THINGS FIRST

Earlier this month I blogged about one of my pet peeves. I've got a lot of them, too. In fact I have so many pet peeves that I've threatened to write a book about nothing but! I've even got the titles and chapters listed in my files!

Today James 4:7b came to my mind: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." How many times have you heard someone quote that part of verse 7 while ignoring the first part of the verse?

Isn't there a cliche that says, "First things first?"

I know, good writers don't use cliches! And they don't use as many exclamation marks as I do, either! (I love them -- see??? Question marks, too!!!) Guess that puts me in my place -- and excludes me from the good writers!

Let's go back to James 4:7. If I read the verse correctly, there's something we need to do BEFORE we resist the devil. We need to practice the "first things first" principle which, in this instance is "Submit yourselves therefore to God."

Then, after prayer, after seeking God's will, after submitting to Him -- only then can we confidently "resist the dveil" and expect him to flee from us. And flee he will, especially if we plead the Blood that we've been talking about!

So let's learn to get things in proper order whether it's first things first or last things last! Maybe we should add the first part of verse 8 to verse 7. First we submit to God; then we resist the devil; then we can "(D)raw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you."

Let's do it! Submit! Resist! Draw nigh! Yep! Exclamation marks all the way!

Preacher's Kid