This recording is from Christ Kingdom Church in Avalon Park, Orlando. Visit us online at ChristKingdom.org for our calendar, driving directions, and more audio recordings. And open your Bible to Matthew chapter 22. We'll be looking at there's a sermon outlining your bulletin as well. I have to fix this. Back many years ago when paddle boats were very popular going down the Mississippi River, and they would often be, and they still do, travel down and take cargo down. Not so much by paddle boat anymore. That's more a tourist thing. But years ago, that was the way through steam-driven engines. Paddle boats went down the Mississippi and carried cargo. Well, one time this was happening, two steam boats were headed out about the same time. And as they were headed out, they kind of both crews got this idea of like, hey, we're both headed at the same spot here. Let's see if we can beat the other guys. And so sure enough, they began to crank it up, throwing more coal into the steam engine, getting it going a little bit faster. By this time the other boats saw, hey, those guys are kind of, looks like they're racing with this. So they weren't going to be stood up by that. They said, crank it up, baby. Both steam boat paddle boats began to crank it out full steam ahead as they could down the Mississippi, going neck and neck with each other. Well, what they didn't think about ahead of time is that they had enough coal to get to their destination and going at a normal pace. Well, what began to happen is they began to run out of coal as they were, and they weren't going to, one, the more important thing they were going to lose their race, but two, they couldn't even get to their destination if they didn't find some other means. So as they began, both boats began to kind of slow down as they ran out. One boat decided, hey, I wonder if some of this cargo would also burn in the furnace and heat this baby up and keep us going. So they began to throw a little bit of the cargo in there and sure enough, it wasn't quite as good as coal, but it still burned, and it still produced steam, and it kept them moving. So they began to burn their cargo on that. Another boat called on the same idea and said, hey, let's do the same thing. Both boats started actually burning their cargo that was on board in the race. Well, as you could guess, the one that had the most cargo did end up winning the race. But when it got to its destination, there was one problem, nothing to deliver. See, somewhere along the way in the competition, both boats had missed out on the very objective, and what was most important about what they were doing, as fun as racing could be, and it certainly could spice up pretty boring job after a while, the very most important thing had been abandoned. And by the time they got to their destination, the important thing was lost. Well, that is the same danger that we have as human beings all the time. We could go through life. We could be right here as we are now starting the back to the school year, which for most of us that have children and living in this community, where 87% of the homes have at least one child, it's kind of the start of the year. It's almost more than January 1st as the start of a year. This is the start of a new cycle for us. We could, as well, miss out on the thing that's most important if we're not careful to keep, to get it before us, and to make sure that it is truly the thing that's most important. So whether or not you're really a note taker or not, what I'd like you to do, and most of the chairs have a pin, we take out your little outline here, and just somewhere on the bottom of one side of the page, two questions that I want you to answer by the time we're done here today for yourself. Just write these out, and you don't have to take any more notes if you don't want to, but I want you to have these questions with you. The first question is this, what is truly most important? And the second question I want you to write is, will I make it most important? I hope by the time we're done today that you will truly understand and come to conclusion, at least of what God says is most important, but that you'll also, just as important, come to a place to decide what do you think is most important. But then you'll follow that up with the question yourself, will I make it most important to me? See, whatever truly is most important doesn't necessarily mean you will make it most important. So, two questions I want you to be able to answer by the time we're done here this morning, and the time we think about that. Now, as you do think about that, as we're talking about that, again, with the start of the school year and what's most important, we typically begin this process of defining and shooting for success. We want to have a successful new school year. We want to have a successful life. We want to live a successful people. We had this idea, especially in our culture here today in the Western Hemisphere, that there's this thing called success. There's this thing of the American dream. There's this thing of being all that we can be, and achieving our hopes and our dreams, and wishing upon a star, but more than just wishing seeing it happen, seeing it come true. So, as you think about that, as we think through that, think about that whole process of how do you define success? How will you know that it's been a successful year? What I want to propose to you is that when you are doing what you think is most important, and you're working towards it and it's directing your life, you will feel successful. It's like the old recipe for making rabbits stew. I like the one that started off with that, and it said, step one, catch a rabbit. Now, step two through ten is important as well too, but if you don't get step one down, if you don't catch the rabbit, it doesn't matter how good your ingredients are to go along with it, but you've got to start with what's most important. Stephen Covey, who wrote the book, first things first, he also wrote the best seller as well to the seven habits of highly successful people, very successful author on this, is the one that also has reminded us that you must begin with the end in mind. You must know where you're headed. You must have a definition for you of what success looks like and what it truly is. And then most importantly, your definition of success must be truly important, it must really matter. So you've got to start with that. He was the one that gave us the image of putting the big rocks into the jar first, because we don't put the things that are most important in your life and carve out room for them first. You'll never be able to squeeze them in. That's a quick summary of his book there, but it was the best-selling book and it continues to be because people see, yeah, there's something to this. There's something to find what's most important and going for it with all that we do. The question is, how do we determine, though, what is most important? What is the key to success and what it really is, finding fulfillment, abundant life, and happiness? Well, there's a popular viewpoint that I want to also mention here this morning. The next slide here, how many of you have heard the book called The Secret? It's actually a movie, too. Anybody heard of this? A few of you? You probably watched Oprah, okay? It's on Oprah's book list. I'm surprised actually that more of you have not heard about it, actually, because it's becoming such a popular thought. And even though the book is relatively new in the course of history, the thought process behind it is nothing new at all. This book, this actual movie that you can rent a blockbuster and to watch. In fact, you can watch on YouTube a free 20-minute clip of it if you want, just to kind of wet your appetite with it, is that they believe they found the secret to success. They believe they found the secret to what's the most important thing and principle in the universe. Do you know what it is? It's the law of attraction. It's the law of attraction. And let me just kind of paraphrase for you the concept. The concept is this. It's true as the law of gravity is, and the law of gravity would take place about a drop this watch. Go to the ground every single time. So true is the law of attraction. And that there is energy emitting from your body through your thoughts constantly. And the way you think is constantly attracting certain consequences, certain actions, certain behaviors, and circumstances out there. Whether you know it or not. It's kind of the idea of the power of positive thinking again. Kind of repackaged. It kind of goes back to early other religions. And you can trace this thing all the way back there, but the idea that you kind of create your own future. In fact, let me use some of the quotes that are associated with this. You are the Michelangelo of your own life. That sounds kind of fun. Whatever you're thinking and feeling today is creating your future. Sounds like you have a lot of control on it, doesn't it? You're the deliberate creator of your life. These are direct quotes from the secret and the concept that's behind it. This idea is that if life is not going too well for you, if things are going bad for you, the problem is because you're actually attracting those things into your life by the way you're thinking. You're thinking negative thoughts. You're worried like, man, I hope I don't get a ticket driving to work because I'm running late. You know what you're doing? You're attracting the police officer. You're attracting the radar gun. Or you're attracting the person as you walks up to your window. Is he going to give you a pass or is he going to actually write you a ticket? You're encouraging him to write the ticket and not say, hey, you know, just a warning. You're drawing it. You're attracting it by your negative thoughts and feelings about this. Now, this is, if this is completely true, this is, this is an incredible secret. If you have that kind of control, if you have that kind of power, can you understand why this is so appealing, so attractive? And guess what? A lot of that is true. You can change things about your life by the way you do think. That's certainly true. I mean, the Bible evening says that's true as you think in your heart so you'll be. That's your mind well on these things, God says. And there are truths to this. There are some secret elements that you can understand about this I can set you free. But there's some major problems. If you buy into this hook line and sinker, for example, if you just think, hey, what's finding my success and what's most important in my life is all about me generating it in my mind. And the law of attraction will slowly over time begin to move it and draw it to me. And over the course of time, I'll begin to feel and experience it. And by the way, you know, their webpage, you can hear the testimonies of people that say it works. It's changed my work experience. It's changed my love life. In fact, one of the things you can do is you can print out from their webpage a blank check fill in any amount you want. You print it out and you stick it on your desk, your wall where you'll see it. And you continually dwell on the thought, I want that amount of money one day. You continue to dwell on it. And there are people that are experiencing results they feel like from this. But let me ask you this, do you want your al-Qaeda community to have the same success with this power? Do you want them to have the secret? Do you want your pedophile community as unfortunate as that is? They have the same secret and power? Or let me ask you something deeper. What if you think you caught a rabbit only to find out? Well, you know, a hamster is also warm and fluffy and kind of balances around. It doesn't taste the same. What if you get to the end of your life and you find out what you thought, what you dwell on was most important, wasn't most important. And you look back with regret. And you look back and think, you know, that check on my counter or on my desktop can't take the place of the picture of my children and my relationship with them has been damaged because of this other thing I've been focusing and dwelling on. What if what you think is most important really isn't? And you get to the end of your life and you have regret and you've lost it and you've lost the opportunity? These are important issues. Even the law of traction in the secret says you have 60,000 thoughts a day on average. What are you going to do with them? And I have the same question for you here today. But I want to tell you there's a secret that's different than what that book talks about. And it comes from God's book. It comes from God's word. And it says that we really look truly to him that one, don't be the creator of your own future. Because do you really want to trust your future to yourself? Do you really want to trust your future to your understanding and your picture of what life is really about? Or do you really want to trust it? It's not that it knows. It's not that it's all powerful and all loving. Because God tells us that he's the one in the source of that. God says faith in him and his word is what brings transformation and success. So the real secret is proclaimed not by your own thoughts as positive as those might be. But the real secret comes from God in his word. So let's right now I want to read our text Matthew 22, 36 through 40. And it's the secret that God's proclaiming through Jesus Christ through the gospel. And then he tells us to spread to the world around us. Hear what Jesus says. Verse 36, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law. Here's somebody that's asking Jesus. Jesus replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself, all the law and the prophets hang on these two commands. This is God's holy and inspired word. Secret or six of us, you ask God? Love me, God says, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. That's the secret. It's not nearly as tantalizing as the book, the secrets. It's not nearly as self-empowering. Ooh, I'm in control of my own destiny. It's a lot scarier if you think about it. But I'm going to trust God that when he says this is the greatest commandment. This is what life's really about. That God really has my best interest in mind. So as we think about that, let's see why. How would God say this? And we're going to answer two specific questions before you answer your last two questions on your outline. Why is loving God most important? Why is it most important, as Jesus says here? Why is it the key to success? When Jesus sums it all up and says, you want to know what makes the difference in your life? You want to know what makes this a successful 2008-2009 school year? Not quite as unsuccessful and as boring as last year. I want to be set free. Try this on. He says, love me with all your heart, soul, and mind. He says, this is the greatest commandment. Now, I want to give you a little background first. Why is this most important? And why is Jesus here saying, look, there is a law. It's the summary of the first four commandments of the ten commandments to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength. And the second one is the summary of the last six commandments to love your neighbor as yourself. Why does Jesus come back and give a law, a commandment? I need to give you a little bit of a background here about this. If you were to look back and summarize and think about the Old Testament, and I know some of you here today are not Old Testament scholars. Maybe you haven't even read the Old Testament. Maybe you don't, not even familiar a whole lot with it. But let me just give you some quick facts about it. Is that when God was coming and was revealing Himself through the course of time, and through the Old Testament history that we have, God came and He revealed His truth, and He gave it to us in the form of His law, in one of the ways He did it. And that was through the ten commandments. God gave His law, and the law held the power of blessing in one side, and also held the power of cursing. Basically, here's the idea. God said, look, if you will obey me and follow my commands, you will be blessed. Your life will be blessed. Your life will be successful. You'll enjoy it. But if you disobey me, your life will be cursed. And that it won't be blessed. You'll experience the opposite of blessing. So here's where it was set up, and it wasn't even new to the ten commandments, because if you go back to the Garden of Eden, it was the same thing. Obey me, Adam and Eve, eat any fruit from any tree you want, except for the one, and you will live. Disobey me, Adam and Eve, and eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and you will surely die. So it wasn't a new concept. It's not a new concept here today. But what you need to understand is the law held the power to do this. Faith and obedience in God held the power to either bless you, or they had the power to curse you as well. So if you obeyed, you could be promised an assured of protection from God, and provision, and if you disobeyed God, you could be assured of no protection, no provision. And I think about during this day and age, when this was happening, people living in that day and age thousands of years ago, were concerned about probably much smaller list of things than we are. Tell me if you're living back, okay, 1,000 to 2,000 years BC, what are the kinds of things that you're concerned about? Audience participation time. What? Food? There's a good one, right? Most of us might be thinking about, are we going to pay the mortgage or something like that, but probably food is something we kind of take for granted today. Not back then, food was a big deal. All right, there wasn't publics. There was your backyard, okay, and how's the crop doing? Or how's your neighbors crop if you're going to trade or barter? What else have been on the mind? Security. Security from what? Yeah, war. I mean, what did the crops are doing fine, okay? But the bigger, batter people down the trail, okay, whose crops aren't doing so good and who aren't worried about it, want to come and just take yours. And what if they just want to kill some of you and your family in the process and you yourself? That would be a problem, right? What else might be on their minds? Health, sure. I mean, you're not going to go down to the doctor, office, down the road, okay, you're not going to go to the pharmacy to get what you need. So yeah, they'd be concerned about protection and health. Anything else to come to mind? Shelter, yeah. Again, we kind of take for granted for the most part here, but back then that was a big deal. Put yourself back in that mindset here and understand that when God was offering through the law, hey, you'd be protected and you'd be provided for and all you have to do is in faith, trust me. That was a good deal. That was a very good deal. And when all the other nations serving other false gods were trying to figure out how to appease their gods, God comes down with his own finger, according to the account in Exodus, in stone transcribes the Ten Commandments and gives it to Moses and Moses says, look, here it is. The Israelites were set apart like no other country that had their God with his finger in stone for them to see and to touch. There was no question what God was saying to them, what a gracious God. Only the God of Christianity is revealed in that kind of way and that kind of power. So understand when Jesus, he's speaking to people that are coming out of that day and age and first century Rome was not much different, much more similar to that day and age, and it is even to ours now, people with this kind of mindset, God is still about blessing his people, providing provision and protection if they will in faith trust him and believe him. Well, fast forward 2008, Easterlando, you and me, and had things really changed that much, I'm willing to bet you what you think is most important in life, still boils down to some form of protection and some form of provision that you're still looking for in life. Think about it, we want protection from poverty, right? We want provision for the needs that we have and many of the desires that we have above that. We want protection from loneliness today, we want provision for meaningful relationships with others, we want protection from injustice, we want provision for true justice and to be in a society that practices that, and that's important, we want protection from illness and disease today, don't we? We want provision for health and wellness, we want protection from boredom, we want provision for purposefulness, we want protection from insecurity, we want provision for full acceptance, we want protection from guilt, we want the provision of righteousness, we want protection from insignificance, we want the provision for meaningfulness, we want protection from oppression, we want the provision of freedom. Are not those things just a sampling of things that every single one of us here still wants and desires? You are still, if you're honest I think, just like our brothers and sisters thousands years ago, they are ultimately still looking to find protection and provision in life. And God is still, like he did it a couple thousand years ago, is doing that and will do it through obedience and through faith in him. And trusting in him and trusting in his commandments and his law. So that background is extremely important here when God says, you know, why should you love me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Because this is where it all begins, this is where God's promise that he will protect you and provide for you is fully met. Now I need to stop here, I need to put in a big parenthesis and I need to explain something that's drastically misunderstood today. Because some of you might be thinking, all right, hold on Skype, I'm tracking with you correctly and if you're accurately talking about God's word, this means that if I will obey God and trust him, he's going to bless me beyond my imagination. That I can be as rich as I want to be, that I will never get sick or have a disease, that I'll have everything my desire for right here on earth. Is that what this is saying? Yes, and no. Yes, and that God is promising to meet your deepest desires that you could possibly have. Yes, it means freedom from disease. Yes, it means wealth beyond imagination and even beyond your definition of wealth. And it's ultimately fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth. That's what you need to understand. There are many that teach here today, there's many churches you can go to this morning that right now are telling other people all around this country and around this world, that if you just simply will trust God and kind of do it his way, you can be as rich as you want to be in your bank account. You can say if you have a sickness or disease in faith, I'm going to believe that that's gone and boom, it will be gone. Oh, if you have enough faith, and that's not what this is saying at all, that you can expect that reality here and now, but it is saying you can expect it in the new heavens and the new earth. Should you expect a disease-free body? When the resurrection happens and Jesus comes back, you better expect a disease-free body. I am. I'm expecting one that's looking a lot better than this one now too. Yes, you should expect that. Can you expect that the ultimate wealth will be yours in Christ? Yeah. There will be one king firmly seen around the world of the new heavens and the new earth. There will be no other name under heaven that will be exalted at that time, other than the name of Jesus. And you'll be part of his kingdom. And all the riches of the new heavens and the new earth will be yours as a citizen of the kingdom. Oh, yeah, you'll be rich. Of course, you won't be nearly as concerned about that as you are about the king who's invited into his presence. Where every single one of your desires and your needs for security and acceptance be met, oh, you bet they will. And is he beginning to meet them now through the gospel? Yes, he is. But the ultimate fulfillment of it comes in the new heavens and the new earth and return to Christ, not now. So your bank account may not have more zeros added to it, at least not on the left side of the decimal here, here now. But God does promise if you seek versus kingdom, all the things that you need will be added to you. And he does promise that the greatest wealth that you ultimately want, the riches of the kingdom of heaven will be yours through Christ. When he talks about the streets of heaven being paid with gold and the walls having emeralds and stuff into them, he's saying there's going to be a new economy. Gold will be like concrete in heaven. Emeralds and rare stones in your diamond rings, she rock, but you'll be with your king. There won't be any sun or moon because the king's glory will illuminate the entire city all the time, no darkness. You see, God's promises are ultimately fulfilled in Christ with them. And that's important for you to know and important parenthesis here. This is not a prosperity message, at least not how people think about it. It is a prosperity message that comes with the return of Christ and the new heavens and the new earth. But that is where our hope is, that is where our trust is. And it doesn't mean by the way that God doesn't heal us now, that he doesn't provide for you financially the way you need it now. Of course he does. And he still chooses to do that his loving kindness. But your ultimate hope is that this is part of a promise and a blessing that comes in the new heavens and the new earth ultimately. Well let me point out one thing that's a key statement. Next slide. Whatever is your ultimate source of protection, provision is what you love and that is what you worship. This is an extremely important concept. Whatever is your ultimate source of protection and provision in this life right now is what you love and is what you worship. This is why when our public schools and places of government say we're going to take God out of the equation. Okay we're going to say that hey we're going to be truly non-religious, there's no such thing. Because whatever you're trusting in for your provision and protection ultimately is what you love and it is what you worship. It always is. Now it's not I'm not making an argument to say to put it back in there. I'm making an argument to say don't think that you're eliminating religion or a viewpoint of God because you take it out. You're simply replacing it. You are always loving and worshiping something. Question is who? What and why? This is important because when God says love me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, he is saying make me your object of worship. Make me your object of worship if you want to live and experience a successful life. Well question number two is how do you love God? There's the reason why because God is saying the ultimate satisfaction of life is met and faith in me and that happens through obedience to me through my laws and requirements. Loving me but then how do we actually do that? What does that look like to actually love God? Because this is the key God is saying. Loving Him to it dynamics here that this text gives us in talking about that. It talks about loving Him. Let me read it again. Love Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind this is the first and greatest commandment. It's the first and the greatest and that's the first thing you have to understand here is that God has got to be and the love for Him has got to be primary. It's got to be the first thing that comes and it's a part of your life. God is saying if you're going to experience a successful blessed life as only I can reveal it to you because I'm the creator. You've got to put me primary in everything and let me help you understand what that really looks like because we can say all that means coming to church Sunday morning. Maybe maybe not because they all that means being you know when I check a box somewhere I have to indicate my choice of religion I check the box of Christianity. Maybe not. I don't know what that indicates or not doesn't necessarily indicate this though at all. What God is saying is that I'm your ultimate thing in your life. Let me give you some examples. You love you love and I love what is most captivating to my imagination. Do you understand that? Do you know that you love most what is most captivating? If I were to ask each of you, what is the most beautiful thing that you can think of? Whatever you start to tell me is something that you love. What is something that if you have you know totally relaxed you could daydream about anything your mind would wander and you'd start daydreaming about this. That's something you love. What is something that would keep you up at night because you're so excited about the thought of being near it or being around it or being a part of it? That's something you love. You know what God is saying? Am I the most beautiful thing to you? When you look at creation you go wow man that is an incredible scene. Look at that. Whether you're skiing somewhere in the Alps, whether you're walking some trail in the Appalachian Trail, whether you're at the ocean watching a sunrise. Do you see the art or do you see the artist? Do you see me behind that? Do you see that that's come from my hand? Do you see that this is just a glimpse of who I am? Do you see that behind it? Then you're understanding what it means a little bit to love God as primary. You know what? You also love what most satisfies you. Whatever most satisfies you, like if you get it you're like whatever most satisfies you that that's something you love. And what is that for you? Is it being is your relationship with somebody being just just so right? Is it having enough zeros in your bank account? You're like just I just feel better now. Is it getting that promotion that you wanted or making that sports team that you wanted or that grade in school? What satisfies you most? That is something you love. God wants to be what satisfies you most. A relationship with him as we deal through his word and spending time with him and learning about him. You love most what secures you most. We've already talked about protection, right? What do you look for to secure you from the biggest threats in your life? Again, is it your bank account? Well, if I have enough money I can get out any problem I have. Is it the fact that you're staying physically thick because that way I know I won't ever get a disease? What are you trusting to protect you most? Is it knowing the right people? Is it working hard? I mean we think that's a good one in America. Work hard. Things will go well for you. Well, you might love work more than you love God. Or is God the one that you are ultimately looking at to be what secures you ultimately? One last one. You love most what if it was taken from you you wouldn't want to live anymore. You love most that if it was taken from you life wouldn't be worth living. It may be hard for me when my children was taken from me. I don't know how I deal with that. Some of you know people that I haven't had to deal with that. Whatever if it was taken from you would take away any desire you have to live. That's something you love. So when we start thinking about I want you to just think deeply when God says love me this is the first your greatest commandment. God is saying I've got to be the answer to those kinds of questions in your life. It's got to be about me. And if it is true about you you are going to be blessed ultimately my new heavens and the new earth when I come back. But you can even be blessed along the way now. You're going to experience freedom. You're going to experience the fruit of my spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. All the stuff the world is trying to conjure up in other ways through self-help books. You're going to get it but you're going to get it through the life of Christ living through you. But if it's this if it's Christ if it's God's commands are the most important. One other aspect that he says here he doesn't just say this is the first and greatest commandment. But he also goes on to say with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind what's he saying? He's saying in every component of your life I've got to be primary every component. He's saying with all that you are think about what that looks like. He's basically saying don't compartmentalize God. If you say well okay God I'm going to give you my spiritual slice of my pizza. One one eight right average pizza large pizza eight slices. You got one eighth God you got my spiritual life. You're going to be the only religion you're religion of Christian and I give to. Just don't mess with the other seven pieces of my pizza God. Don't come in and intervene in my place of employment. I'm busy climbing the corporate ladder. Don't come in my peace of mind my family let's say my marriage all right because I kind of like being in control and charge there. Don't mess in and get involved in my area with my children or children with my area my parents or your recreational activities or your social life or your physical exercise routine whatever your pieces of the pizza are that you slice up your life into. God's saying you know what the secret is making me important not just the most important thing in one area but everywhere. All your heart all your mind all your soul everywhere just think about that really quickly there. What would that mean in regards to your thought life? If you said God deserves the utmost primary focus in my thought life what kind of difference would that make? It probably would have some impact on what you choose to watch since that goes directly into your thoughts. It probably would have something to do with the kinds of books you choose to read. The kind of thoughts that dwell on your mind especially before you go to bed. The thoughts that dwell on your mind you have free time. What if God was the ultimate thing that you worshiped in your relationships every relationship whether it's a romantic one. Whether it's just a friendship whether it's an employer employee what if God came in and you gave him full control to be the ultimate thing that matters there. I guarantee you things would change and things would be different and how you determine what your choices should be in that relationship would be greatly influenced by different things than if God is not primary. Think about in your areas of things like well kids you guys are getting ready to start school in a few weeks. Think about there. If God was the primary thing when you guys are sitting in your class at school it might have some bearing and influence right on who you choose to sit with at the school cafeteria table. The little guy or girl that has nobody sitting with them there might be something inside you that says hey you were once alone and I left heaven to come to earth to sit with you. That very same spirit might tell you to do the same thing or when you're tempted to look on somebody else's paper might speak something in your mind and say look there's a bigger test here than the one that's on your paper in front of you. Are you big kids you're not off the hook come tax time how honest are you going to be fully honest trusting God there's a lot you can get away with nobody will ever know. It will definitely influence and have an impact in God saying every part of your life so let's summarize real quick first question that we looked at why is loving God most important because God says it's the key. Now the book the secret says it's something different and if you want to buy into that you can and you're buying into something questions what. And if you're not buying to the book the secret you're buying to something else God says buy in to your creator buy into the God you demonstrate is left for you by leaving heaven to come to earth to die in your place you can trust that kind of love you can trust that kind of power. And the second question how do you love God making in primary every area of your life this is God's key this is what God says is most important with this so what's the first question I asked you to write in the bottom of your page. It's my readout Gary what is truly most important you got to answer that question answer it you don't write it down you answer it least here in your head what is truly most important. You've heard what God says what was the second question huh will you make it important what will I make it important. That's the second question the compass always points true north God's holding up a compass you can trust it or you can trust your own you can trust your own perception or you can trust your trust the compass. Let's pray God as we continue to worship you this morning we continue to respond to your word God will you just remind us that you have given us a compass you have given us truth. And just as much as I'm sure many times throughout history the compass tells a general or tells a pilot or tells a commander that there's a direction that's true north that he maybe didn't think was or she didn't think was reality is you have to either trust the instrument. Or you trust yourself and we have that same decision here this morning God buy the grace and mercy of your spirit will you come and you impart in us faith to trust you to not trust the ways of our own self thinking not trust the ways of popular books and in other popular religions but to trust the reality of what you have said is most important loving you with all of our hearts so mind and stream. We've got come make that a reality here this morning give us faith and may we respond to that may we experience God lives that are focused on living one of most important may we be testimonies to your goodness and your blessing as your people here on earth all for your glory all for your honor we pray this in Christ name amen.