The true Christian is a person who knows what is most important in life.  He has prioritized God above everything and everyone else.  I like the way David said it.  

Psalm 16:8 (ESV)
⁸  I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

David was speaking of keeping God on his mind as he went through life, and even when he thought about death (ver. 10), but there is also a hint of putting God before himself here.  “I have set the Lord…before me.” 

This is the place where God belongs in our lives.  He belongs, not only before everyone and everything else, but before ourselves as well.  At its core, being a Christian is being like Christ, and Christ always put His Father’s will before His own.

Matthew 26:39 (ESV)
³⁹  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

If we are following in the steps of our Savior, we, too, will put the will of God before our own.  In real life, this is a challenge, but genuine Christians rise to the occasion and make the right decision when it is time to do so.  Oh, it is not easy, and, sometimes we fail, but, overall, the life of a Christian consists of fighting back the desire to please self and putting God first.  This is only possible when we are crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), and our lives are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

Putting God first means we have no idols in our lives that we serve in the place of God.  As a result of having God always before him, David refused to acknowledge the gods of men.  In Psalms 16, he said, “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply” (ver. 4).  He determined to escape that sorrow by refusing to serve other gods.

Remember, anything we put before God in our lives becomes an idol to us.  No, we do not build altars on which to serve false gods, but sometimes the material things of life, or even earthly relationships, become our idols.  It was from this standpoint that Paul referred to covetousness as idolatry (Colossians 3:5).  David reminds us that the result of any kind of idolatry is a multiplicity of sorrows.

When we put God first,  we are blessed and provided for by God.  Because David kept God before him, he said, “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices” (ver. 9).  Are you experiencing the joy that accompanies putting God first in your life, even before your own desires?  This is what it takes to be a Christian.  Believing and being baptized is not enough.  Now we must commit ourselves completely to serving God, and Him alone.  This is what it means to be a Christian.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.