Putting God First: The Heart of Kingdom Stewardship

In a world filled with competing priorities and endless demands on our time, attention, and resources, there's one principle that stands above all others: God demands to be first. Not second. Not somewhere in the top ten. First.

This isn't a suggestion or a nice spiritual idea to consider when convenient. Throughout Scripture, God consistently and clearly requires that He occupy the primary position in every area of our lives. And here's the challenging part—He doesn't just take our word for it. God audits our lives. He examines not just what we say, but what we actually do.

The Reality of Divine Auditing
Think about that for a moment. An audit is a thorough examination, a deep dive into the truth behind the claims. When we claim that God is first in our lives, He looks at our calendars, our bank statements, our priorities, and our decisions to see if our actions match our words. It's not enough to talk about putting God first; we must demonstrate it functionally and visibly in how we live.

This theme echoes throughout the Old Testament. In Malachi 1:6-9, God confronts the priests who were offering defiled sacrifices—blind, lame, and diseased animals—on His altar. His rebuke is pointed: "Try offering them to your governor. Would he be pleased with you?" The people were giving God their leftovers, their second-best, while honoring their earthly leaders with their finest. God's complaint was clear: I deserve better. I deserve first place.

Understanding Kingdom Stewardship
So what does it mean to be a kingdom steward? Simply put, a kingdom steward is a faithful manager responsible for protecting and expanding what God has placed in their care. Notice the word "manager," not "owner."

This distinction is crucial and perhaps one of the most difficult concepts for us to grasp: We own nothing. We manage everything.

Everything in our possession—our time, our talents, our treasures—has been entrusted to us by God. The moment we start thinking or acting like we're the owners rather than managers, we find ourselves in conflict with the true Owner. And that's a conflict we cannot win.

God has blessed each of us in three primary categories:
Time - The hours, days, and years we've been given Talent - The unique abilities, skills, and gifts we possess Treasure - The material resources at our disposal
Each of these belongs to God, and we're called to steward them faithfully for His kingdom purposes.

The Practice of Praying First
One of the most practical ways to put God first is found in 1 Timothy 2, which emphasizes the importance of praying first. Not praying as a last resort when everything falls apart, but praying before we act.

Here's a principle worth remembering: Pray up before you mess up.
Before you go to school, pray first. Before you start work, pray first. Before you make that major purchase, pray first. Before you enter into that difficult conversation, pray first. Before any significant decision or daily activity, seek God's guidance.

And here's the beautiful part: even when things don't turn out as we hoped, if we've consulted God first, we can trust that He's got it. We may not understand the outcome, but we know we've honored Him by seeking His wisdom before acting.

The Connection Between Spiritual and Economic
Many believers fail to understand the vital connection between the spiritual and the economic. To be a loving, giving person requires faith. And without faith, Scripture tells us, it is impossible to please God.

Proverbs 3:9-10 instructs us to "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops." Notice it says firstfruits, not leftovers. Not what's left after we've taken care of everything else we deem important.

Giving is fundamentally an issue of honor to God. It's an act of faith demonstrated not just by the amount given, but by whether it is given first. When we honor God with the first portion of what He's blessed us with, we're declaring our trust that He will provide for everything else we need.

Consider this powerful illustration: Imagine God gives you ten apples—nine red ones and one green one. He says you can do whatever you want with the nine red apples, but He asks for the green one. Simple enough, right?

But then life happens. You want to take that vacation. You need a new vehicle. The kids need new clothes. Slowly, you start taking bites out of that green apple. A little here for this expense, a little there for that desire. Before long, all that's left is the core—the leftover. And when you come before God to praise Him and ask for His blessing, what are you offering? Only what remains after you've satisfied yourself first.

The Promise of Divine Response
Here's the encouraging truth: God responds to being honored. Psalm 50:14-15 says, "Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

When God sees that we honor Him with our time, talents, and treasures, He responds to that honor. This isn't prosperity preaching that promises financial windfalls for every donation. Rather, it's the biblical principle that God takes care of those who prioritize Him.
God wants us to prosper. He wants us to be content and happy. He desires for us to have enough not just for our own needs, but to help others who are less fortunate. But these blessings flow from a proper relationship where He holds first place.

The Question of Eternal Investment
Have you ever heard of someone giving themselves rich? Not rich in earthly terms, but rich in heavenly treasures. We can build the biggest retirement accounts, accumulate multiple properties, and amass significant wealth, but we won't take any of it with us when we leave this world.

The question becomes: Are we investing in what lasts forever, or only in what we'll leave behind?

All blessings originate in heaven. If the blessings are there and we're here, how do we access them? Through prayer. Through seeking God first. Through asking, and asking, and asking until we receive an answer. That answer may be yes, no, or not yet—but rest assured, all prayers are answered.

The Foundation of Everything
None of this matters, however, without the foundation: accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. We're all created by God, but until we accept Jesus through faith, repentance, and baptism, we haven't entered into the saving relationship that makes us children of God.

And here's a critical truth: You don't serve to become a child of God. You serve because you are a child of God.

Once you've accepted Christ, service flows naturally from your identity. You serve because you're Christ-like, because you're a Christian, because you've been transformed by grace.

Living the Priority
Putting God first requires faith—faith that when we prioritize Him before everything else (second, third, fourth, and fifth), He will take care of what follows. It means trusting that God has our best interests at heart, even when we don't understand His timing or His methods.
The challenge before each of us is simple yet profound: Will we give God our best or our leftovers? Will we consult Him first or only when we're desperate? Will we manage His resources faithfully or act as though we're the owners?

The invitation stands open. Put God first in your time by praying before acting. Put God first with your talents by using your abilities to advance His kingdom. Put God first with your treasures by honoring Him with the firstfruits of what He's provided.

When we do this—when we truly prioritize God above all else—we position ourselves to experience the abundant life He desires for us. Not a life free from challenges, but a life anchored in the unshakeable promise that the God who created everything is personally invested in our wellbeing and eternally committed to our good.

The question isn't whether God deserves first place. The question is whether we'll give it to Him.