And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
—Colossians 1:18
We all need to make a decision about how we’re going to live, and it comes down to a single question about Jesus. Is the Savior who came and lived and died and rose again worthy of first place, of real preeminence, in our lives? Not a place. The preeminence.
That word matters, because Scripture is careful about it. Paul writes that Jesus is “the head of the body, the church,” the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, “that in all things He may have the preeminence.” In all things. Not some things. Not the religious things. All of them. Jesus does not want merely a place in your life; He wants the first place, the highest place, the ruling place over everything.
Here’s the sobering truth we have to face: if Jesus is not number one, something or someone else will be. The throne of your life is never empty. If the Savior isn’t occupying the top spot, then your career is, or your family is, or your comfort, your reputation, your bank account, your hobbies. Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does the human heart. Someone sits on that throne today, and it’s worth knowing who.
Be honest about how subtle this is. The things that crowd Jesus out of first place are rarely evil things. They’re usually good things, even wonderful things, family, work, health, ambition, that have quietly climbed into a place they were never meant to hold. A good thing becomes a bad thing the moment it takes the place that belongs to Jesus alone.
So, consider George Barna’s research into what Americans actually prize most. In one well-known poll, the single highest-rated priority people named was good physical health. Not a bad thing to want at all. But it tells the story, doesn’t it? When we list what matters most, the King who made us and bought us so easily slides down beneath our health, our relationships, our security, our comfort.
Here’s the test, and it cuts through all our Sunday language: whatever you think about most, protect most, spend most on, and rearrange your life around, that is what’s really first. You can say Jesus is Lord, but your calendar and your worries and your checkbook are telling the real story about who holds the preeminence.
So let me press the question Paul’s words press on all of us. What’s going to be number one in your life? Who’s going to be number one? Because if you don’t deliberately give that place to Jesus, something lesser will seize it, and you’ll have started your whole life in the wrong place.
Give Him the preeminence, in all things. He’s the only One who can hold that place without crushing you under it, and the only One who deserves it.
THE THRONE OF YOUR LIFE IS NEVER EMPTY. IF JESUS ISN’T NUMBER ONE, SOMETHING ELSE IS, GIVE HIM THE PREEMINENCE IN ALL THINGS.
