Why can't I be first?

When one is first in this world, I like to think of the wealthy, the big business man, in the black suit and long tie, going to work long days just so they can be, well “first.” It reminds me of a term called Social Darwinism, in the 1900s that many Americans had this view of “survival of the fittest”. It was the idea that you had to work to get to the top. In American History, this was a time were there was not much of a middle class, you were either richer than rich or dirt poor. But everyone wanted to be first. It was why people worked 14 – 18 hour days.

So any way, what I am about to write is totally the opposite of what the world of the past says. Screw social Darwinism. The world says that you have to work hard and you will make it in life. I say what Jesus said in his parable that the last will become first and the first will become last. (Matt 20:16)

When a man works his rear off to make it in life and a lazy man that sits around doing nothing with his time comes along and get the same amount of wealth as the man who works his butt off.

Now is that fair?

I have felt a similar struggle in my life, in my school. I have worked my butt off to get good grades, and there was this one class, the hardest class in high school that I have ever taken. It was AP US history. I could not take the tests, they were just too hard. Now I am a very smart man or I think I am, but when it came to test in this class, I bombed them. But what made it worse was that there were people in that class there were getting A’s on the tests, that don’t even try. Every night I would stress out over trying to understand the concepts of the time period we were studying. And when test day came the people that didn’t study got way better grades than me. Now that can’t be fair.

So let’s look at this situation a little different. Let’s see how God would look at this… Well God is the all knowing, and He is bigger then big, so I think God knows what’s best. God knows the future and he has a plan for me, and I think that if getting A’s on the test would prepare me for Gods will than so be it. But since I did fail most of the test, I have to believe that is Gods will also.

It’s hard to think that failing in live is what’s best for us. It lowers us to a standard that the world does not except. The world tells us to believe in “Social Darwinism,” and when one fails it goes against the world.

So in saying that is that not what God wants, standing against the world’s way of thinking?

Not to be of this world but to be in this world.

We need to stand up against the whole world. So how do we do that? Well let’s look at Jesus, Jesus was born of a lowly virgin mother, Jesus was a lowly shepherd, Jesus hung out with the lowest of low, like the sick, the poor, and the wicked man. What Jesus did was a great example of what we should be doing today. Can you imagine that?

Jesus lowered himself to a level that which he was then hangin’ with the poorest of poor and all the people that people looked down on. Jesus was not of this world, and he knew that.

So in my life, I have been striving to be like Jesus. I have been lifted up in many ways, lately. I getting good great in school now, I got a good job that just named me one of the most outstanding workers, people are looking up to me. And you know what, it feels good. I feel proud, and happy. Know not that these things are bad, but I don’t want to swim in my proud. I want to be like Jesus, humble. So in my life I have been striving to lower my self so that I can make God number one in my life. And I feel like God has bless me more so than what the world has done to me.

So in closing, live like Jesus. Because Jesus’ wasn’t first, he made himself last so others could be first.