Key points
- 1
1In our most intimate relationships, we instinctively know we can't settle for being second — and God refuses to be second in our lives too.
Pastor Linn opens with a survey, asking men and women to imagine a fiancé admitting they'd always be 'number two' to a past love, and everyone recoils at the idea. He uses this to show that we already intuitively understand exclusivity in love, which is exactly what God requires from us.
- 2
2God's first commandment — no other gods before Him — isn't insecurity, but love, because anything else placed first will always disappoint.
Pastor Linn walks through Exodus 20:3, calling the Ten Commandments the 'ABCs' of following God, and stresses that God's demand to be first flows from His knowledge that no substitute can sustain us the way He can.
“I will never be number two. I refuse to have that status in your life”
“there is not an accomplishment. There is not a possession. There is not a person who comes before me because I am number one in your life”
- 3
3Abraham's willingness to offer Isaac reveals whether anything — even a long-awaited blessing — has quietly taken God's place.
Pastor Linn retells Genesis 22, explaining that God tested Abraham specifically because He had just given Abraham the son he'd waited decades for, raising the question of whether Isaac had displaced God as number one. He challenges listeners with the question: what would God ask for that your answer would be no?
“What is it that God could ask you for? That your answer would be no”
- 4
4The widow of Zarephath's story shows that putting God first, even out of our lack, leads to provision we could never predict.
Pastor Linn narrates 1 Kings 17, where Elijah asks a starving widow to make him bread first from her last handful of flour and oil. He connects her instinct to protest ('I need more, not less') to modern excuses people give God about time, money, or relationships, and shows that her obedience led to a year of miraculous provision.
- 5
5A personal story about telling his young son to jump off a roof illustrates the crisis of faith involved in trusting God's promises over our fears.
Pastor Linn recounts standing beneath a roof telling his son Joshua to jump into his arms, and Joshua crying 'I can't' despite the safety being obvious. He applies this directly to the moments God asks us to release something, saying it's a choice to trust the one who promised over our fear.
“Do I believe the one who promised me more than I believe my fears”
“It's a crisis of belief and how you answer that moment will change everything”
A story from life
Story of the preacher's son Joshua being afraid to jump off a low roof into his father's arms
- 6
6The widow's obedience not only sustained her for a year but led to her son being raised from the dead — showing God's blessing exceeds what obedience could earn.
Pastor Linn finishes the 1 Kings account, describing how the widow's son later died and Elijah pleaded with God to restore his life, which God did. He frames this as proof that choosing God as first unlocks blessing beyond anything we could calculate or deserve.
“You realize you settle for a handful of flour and a small vial of oil. And it is so much less than what God was trying to do for you”
- 7
7Because of the mercy shown at the cross, giving God everything is simply the only reasonable response.
Pastor Linn turns to Romans 12:1, unpacking the brutality of the crucifixion in detail — the whip, the crown of thorns, the nails — repeating 'because I love you' with each blow to underline the cost of God's mercy. He tells the story of a boy who, having no money to give in the offering, stepped into the plate himself, using it as a picture of offering our whole selves rather than a portion.
Illustration
Story of a nine-year-old boy who stepped into the offering plate during a 1970s church service
Application
Pastor Linn hands out a card with five questions to take home: is God really number one in your time, your obedience, your finances, your decisions, and your family? The point isn't guilt but honesty — naming whatever you'd say no to if God asked for it, because that thing has quietly taken His place. Like the widow who had to give from her lack before she saw provision, and like Abraham who had to be willing to give up what he loved most, we're asked to trust God's promise more than our fear before we see the blessing. In light of what Jesus endured on the cross, giving Him everything isn't a burden but the only reasonable response. The invitation is to stop negotiating with God, to stop holding back the one thing, and to step fully into what He's offering — trusting that He'll take care of what we surrender, often in ways far beyond what we could have arranged for ourselves.
