First Things First

“Crawl before you walk; Walk before you run

First things must come first; Otherwise you’ll end up with none”

Loren Thornburg

As we watch college football and the high caliber athletes it’s hard to think that at one point they could only do the basics and that at times even with their advanced skills that they still go back to the basics. As a coach I see firsthand the importance of the fundamentals. The athletes I work with are constantly wanting to move on to more advanced skills such as throwing different kinds of pitches not understanding that it would do them no good to learn those skills without the foundational skills on which to build upon. I find I do the same thing in life wanting to be farther ahead missing the importance of where I’m at as a building block to where I’m going. Even at times in things I may be more advanced in there are times when I need to go back to the basics, to reinforce my foundation to make all that I have built upon even stronger. First things must come first.

“And a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you.””

Mark 1:11 NLT

Jesus, in all of His divinity, still was told of who He was by our Father. He was Loved and He belonged to Him as His Son. The Father was pleased with Him and this is where His ministry began. It began with this truth and went out from there. It was out of this truth that Jesus was able to go and do all the Father had planned for Him. This love came first for Jesus and must for us as well. Before we do we must first be. We must first know that we are loved, so loved by our Father, we are His child, we belong to Him and He is fully pleased with us for being nothing more than His. For out of not just knowing this, but being in this we can freely go and do all He has planned for us. It is in this security that we find the solution to many of our concerns. I find Him responding to most of my concerns with, “I love you” because it is in this truth that I find what I need to overcome. He longs to speak this to you too, so hear Him now...I love you and am fully pleased with you.