first

Nathan Hale, a great American patriot during the Revolutionary War, was captured and hung by British soldiers. His now famous final words were, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."  He was willing to die for his nation and its freedom.

Not long ago, a mother in Philadelphia went back into a burning building to rescue her children who were trapped inside. After saving two, she died in the flames trying to save the other two. The mother was willing to die for her children.

In the ancient empire of Persia, a law was passed making it a crime punishable by death to pray to anyone but the emperor. One aged government official refused to obey the edict. It was his habit to pray three times daily to the one true God. As a result, he was cast into a den of lions. Even though God saved Daniel, Daniel was still willing to die rather than give up his habit of prayer.

Most things in our life that are important require sacrifices in order to do them. If you have hobbies or extra-curricular activities that you enjoy doing you may be willing to sacrifice time, money, energy, or other activities in order to participate in them.

The same is true of prayer. We like to sing, “Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer; that calls me from a world of care...”  Do we really long for a "sweet hour of prayer" - or do we just settle for a few moments of prayer that we try to squeeze into our driving, our work or some other daily activity?

Let me challenge you - beginning today - to put everything else second, and only Jesus and his kingdom work first. 

 

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)

-kissah george, a few days before passing on