1st place, 2nd  place, 3rd place....!! The feeling we get when we are awarded a prize is indescribable isn't it? Yet, have you ever felt that feeling of complete joy and revelation that you are special...you were awarded a prize and then....uh oh....so did someone else? Oh my...and then perhaps another person receives this same prize as well? Have you ever been given a gift only to realize that it really came pretty cheap by the giver?  Well, suddenly, your stomach begins to turn around from joy to indifference..or even upset? Why? Because...because because because ....it's not the wonderful thing you thought it was??? LOL!! The truth is that the more rare something is thought to be, the more valuable it truly is to us! Consider diamonds! Diamonds are only as special as the degree to which they are rare or costly to us! Now a days we find that diamonds must be pink, yellow or blue to really sell the message, "you are so valuable to me"! One day, your boss comes up to you at work and says, "well are not you just the best decision this company had ever made?" As the comment comes out of your boss's  mouth, your ego soars and your value goes straight up to the sky! Wait for it...Wait for it...until....you come to work the next day and over hear your boss say the same thing to a jr. employee under you! "Hmmmmm", you think to yourself,..."that's ..ummm interesting"...! Then, the following days ensue and you realize that your boss seems to say this "phrase" a lot to many different people. Ugh! Now, you realize...the phrase is not as specially meant for you like you had once thought. Allow me one more example?  Perhaps you have a best friend..the operative word being "best"! You sit together, you call each other and you seek each other's attention first whenever you see each other! there is an understanding that "you" and no one else are the favorite friend. Then, one day...your eyes behold each other across a crowded room, playground, work office or even church pew...and your "Best Friend" rushes off to sit next to someone else...Talk to others before you and even go places without telling you or inviting you! Most sadly, when you call upon this "best friend" to explain or to even make things right...they reply as though nothing important has taken place. In fact, as if in complete oblivion, you realize that they don't even recognize how important your place in there heart was! What's more, your friend replies when confronted with the fact that your relationship is awry, "What are you talking about"? As well, your friend goes on to ask, "I cannot have other friends"? "Other friends" you think to your self in disbelief? "This is not about having other friends or moments with other people" your heart begins to pound out into your brain. No, for you this interchange is about placement! For a moment, you believed that your friendship was first...the kind that said, you were number one to someone...in short, you were special? Defeated and tired and a little fearful, wrought and laced with rejection...you walk away alone. Friends, may I suggest that this is how God feels in a relationship He enters into with us that is far deeper than a friendship or a first place award....!! We have entered into a covenant with the Lord God Almighty, who is the best....of the best...In fact, we will all die like the rest if not for Him...!! And, the most costly of gifts was given to us as a seal of the deal to be 1st in our hearts, minds and souls...His life!!! Perhaps...we need to use moments of rejection to remind us of the way we reject the most special of all relationships...is God 1st place in your heart...If not, remember who you were when he found you and how He chose you and made you His own... He named you and knows your name more than anyone or anything else.

It's not as special when you choose all others before Him or give your love everywhere else first is it...So, I ask you again...and I ask myself...Is He number one..or is He just one of the ones you seek?  Please listen to this song...Remember that He makes you special...He makes you new...He adores you...Do you adore Him?