Daily EncouragementSample

Elijah was speaking to the widow at Zarephath, to whom the Lord had led him. “But first make a small cake of bread for me” is hardly the sort of thing we would normally expect any self-respecting person to say to a woman who is reduced to “only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug,” and is preparing to cook what may well be her last meal.

However, these words echo a fundamental truth: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33). “God first” is the watchword for every aspect of the kingdom of God.

God first - in our living. Not food and drink and clothes, but God. “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them” (Matt. 6:32).

God first - in our giving. “They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will (2 Cor. 8:5). So Paul writes of the generous Macedonians.

God first - in our serving. “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ . . . ” (Rom. 1:1). This means not doing my own thing but serving him.

At first Elijah’s words must have given the widow a jolt. We need jolting too!