When we put God First and Culture Second
"You can't get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first." — C.S. Lewis. There is no culture without God. There is no need for a balance of earthly and Heavenly things without God, and Daniel knew this best. Daniel kept first things first and let the remaining things fall into place. In Daniel 3:3, we see that Daniel was responsible, faithful, and trustworthy towards the earthly and second king. He proved more reliable than all the other administrators and officials. He was the most reliable to the king.
Satan did not like that a Citizen of Heaven was doing good work and excelling in the kingdom. So Satan set out to change this. Working through jealous men, he was able to mess with king Darius' mind by declaring that he should be the only one people pray to. This judgement made it impossible for Daniel or anyone else in the city to pray to God, or Satan thought. Daniel knew something important. First things first. He knew that he was first a citizen of heaven and second a citizen of earth. He never put God below His own creation; he always put God above His creation. Daniel was not going to change the fact that God came first. The first thing Daniel did when he heard the king's decree was to break it. Daniel prayed. He asked God for help. Daniel knew there might be consequences, but that did not matter. The one who put King Darius on the throne was the one that Daniel served. I wonder what our culture would look like if we lived with as much confidence in God as Daniel did. How would life be different if we had the strength to keep first things first?
Our lives and world are different now when compared to Daniel’s world, but we still have many earthly kings; it is just that our kings are in different forms. They may be social media influencers, politicians or many other distractions. We are making these people and possessions higher than God. We live for them rather than for God. If we were to put God first and these earthly kings second, we would be able to see, hear, think, and ultimately serve more clearly. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need”(Matthew 6:33 NLT).
When God is the center of our lives, we can live according to His will, serving Him and those He has put in authority. We can do this like Daniel, with respect, responsibility, trustworthy, faithful, and loving. When God is at the center, nothing else can change that. You can put God in the center of your life now. Do what Daniel did: Pray. Ask God to come back into focus, becoming the center of your life, and then He will give you the power and desire to do His will and keep Him first. Charles Spurgeon said it this way. “Have your heart right with Christ, and He will visit you often, and so turn weekdays into Sundays, meals into sacraments, homes into temples, and earth into heaven.”
Ana Elisabeth Johnson