The first words in the English Bible are, “In the beginning, God.” The text goes on to describe the creation of the heavens and the earth. Those first words in the Bible, however, can serve as a theme for our lives. Everything we do should begin with God.
When we plan for the future, we should do so with God on our minds.
James 4:13-15 (ESV)
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
How many of us make plans for tomorrow without thinking about whether or not it is God’s will? We all probably do this once in a while, but we should do our best not to make a habit of it. Instead, we should ask ourselves, no matter what we are planning, “is this according to the will of God?” We may not always know the answer to that question. We do many things of which God is indifferent and has not spoken of in His Word. But, we should at least ask the question. Beginning our plans with God on our minds is always a wise course of action.
When we start each new day, we should do so with God. Beginning every day with a word of prayer gets our days off to a good start. David made a practice of this.
Psalm 5:3 (ESV)
3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
The Sons of Korah mentioned this practice in a Psalm as well.
Psalm 88:13 (ESV)
13 But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
At the beginning of each day, let us ask God for guidance in the decisions we will make, strength for handling the problems we might face, and protection against the schemes of the devil. We know that God will watch over us with His providential care, but sometimes we forget to ask. Remember, James said, “You do not have, because you do not ask.”
When deciding on a doctrinal position, we should always begin with God. This means, of course, we turn to the Bible to see what God says about the subject. You might think that everyone does this, but, sadly, it is not where everyone begins doctrinally. The truth is, most people today do not begin with God when they are deciding what to believe religiously. We hear of Baptist theology, Reformed theology, Catholic theology, etc. The only theology we should be interested in is Biblical theology. When deciding doctrinal matters, what the Bible says should be our only concern. We must begin with God.
“In the beginning, God.” Let that be the theme of your life. If you want to reap the full benefit of being a Christian, put God first in your life and He will take care of the rest (Matthew 6:33).
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.