Putting God First

Please Welcome April Vafeas to the Cafe!!

God, I really do not have time for you today!

There are so many more important things for me to do today than to spend time with God.

How many of us have ever said or thought that? Probably not many! But, how many of us are guilty of rephrasing it and saying something like this, "I'm just so busy, I don't have time to read my bible." Or, "someday, when I don't have so much to do, I'll get more involved in church."

What we are really saying is that we have so many other things that are more important than spending time with God or investing in His church and His people. We're also implying that people that do spend time in the Word or spend time working at church or in some other ministry have more free time than we do. The truth is that they simply make it a priority. And, God should be our number one priority.

Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 (NIV),

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment."

He also said in Matthew 6:21,

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

How can we keep the most important commandment if we are constantly putting everything in our lives ahead of God? How many of us are guilty of not making time for God, but making time for our favorite TV show? What are we teaching our kids when we do this?

I think we could include our time as one of our greatest treasures. If we examine our time, where would we find our heart? Will it be in our children or our house or our job? Those are all wonderful things to spend time on, but unless we also make time for God, we are sending Him a very clear message – God, I don’t have time for you.

As Christians, we are called to service. I challenge each one of you to make time for God every day. Let's be the example for our children and show them that God is number one in our lives by making time for Him in our day and by including Him in every detail of our lives. I know that you love God & I want you to take the desire you have for Him & use it to bear fruit!

Prayer:

"Lord, help me to put you first today and everyday. Help me to spend time in your Word so that you can direct my feet and light my path. Thank you for loving me and for providing me with this opportunity to grow."

In Him,
April

April is married to a wonderful man named Jamie. They have three beautiful children, Tyler, my son from a previous marriage, is 7 years old. Reagan and William are twins and they are two years old. There is never a dull (or clean) moment at their house and April is sure that’s only going to get worse as potty training approaches!

April is a stay at home mom who spends her time chasing after the twins and chauffeuring Tyler She loves to cook & enjoy having family suppers nearly every evening. She also co-teaches a women’s Sunday School class at her church.
from school to various practices.

(www.myspace.com/aprilvafeas).

She openly describes her life as a roller coaster! At one point, she used some of the things that happened in her life to justify being an unbeliever (if there was a God, then this wouldn’t have happened). But, God has changed her heart and her mind and she now loves to share this with the world through writing.