Do you count down the days, or hours, until Friday comes, ushering in the weekend? T.G.I.F. right? It was a popular phrase a couple of decades ago (or so I’ve heard). Now there are restaurants bearing T.G.I.F. as their name. We all seem to live for the weekend.
The other day I saw where someone had given a new meaning to T.G.I.F. I would give credit to the creator if I knew who coined it, but it has become my new favorite meaning for the acronym. In my world T.G.I.F. means Today God Is First! What a great reminder we need to always keep God first in our lives.
Exodus 20:3 says “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Nothing is to come before God. It is hard for many of us to put this concept into practice. We try to rationalize that it is okay for good things to be number one on our list, such as our spouse, our children or even our service in the church, but God is a jealous God [Exodus 20:5]. He demands that nothing in our lives come before Him. He doesn’t do this because He’s vain. He does this for our own good.
There are three things we can take to the bank. First, God is good [Psalm 73:1]. Second, God loves us [John 3:16]. And Third, He has great plans for us [Jeremiah 29:11]. With those guarantees, you’d think it would be easy to always put God first, but in reality it isn’t. The enemy is constantly bombarding us with things trying to distract us. You see, he has his own list of three things he wants for us. He wants to kill us, to steal from us, and destroy us [John 10:10]. If he can’t keep us from knowing Christ, then he will switch to plan B, which is to keep us so busy we’re ineffective. He steals our joy and our peace by doing this. He can also destroy relationships, our destiny, and the list goes on.
If God is first in our lives, it is not by accident. It is because we are intentional about what we put in our minds through music, movies, books and conversation. We are intentional about where we spend our time and where we spend our money. I’ve heard pastors say “Let me look at your checkbook and I can tell you who your god is.” Matthew 6:21 says “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” None of these things are easy in our culture. In fact, our culture drives us away from God. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to make this a practice and a lifestyle. It is countercultural, but then again so was Jesus.
T.G.I.F. can become a reality in your life today and it begins with one small step at a time. What will you do today?